Mr. Prescott: An Older Man Romance Read online

  Mr. Prescott

  An Older Man Romance

  Carlos Dash

  Copyright © 2017 by Carlos Dash

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  About the Author/Mailing List

  New York

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Mailing List

  Carlos Dash is the pen name for a writing duo consisting of one woman and one man, who both enjoy steamy stories about arrogant men falling in love. And their stories always end on a happy note.

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  “Something’s always happening.

  If you’re bored in New York, it’s your own fault.”

  - Myrna Loy

  Chapter 1

  It was my third day in New York.

  The first two had been spent going from meeting to meeting, with the occasional photo-op thrown in.

  This was part of a long-standing tradition. Whenever London elected a new mayor, the politicians in New York would invite that person over for frivolous nonsense like this.

  There was no way out of it.

  But the bright side was that I got to see New York for the first time. Downtown, in particular, was a thing of beauty. Dazzling in every way. I sometimes felt like a tourist with the way I kept gawking at the skyscrapers. And it’s not as if I was from a small town or something like that. I was from London. The crown jewel of England. A beautiful city in its own regard.

  But there’s nothing quite like New York City. Everyone should see it before they die.

  Which brings us to that bookstore.

  When I first saw it, I instantly came to a stop. I told my bodyguards that I wanted to go inside. They didn’t have any problem with that. But what they did have a problem with was my insistence to go in alone. They looked at me like I had lost my mind. It was their job to watch me like hawks when I was outside of the hotel, and they had been doing exactly that.

  To begin with, they weren’t happy that I opted to walk around the city in order to take in the sights, rather than using the car the American Embassy had provided. And now on top of that, I wanted them to leave me unguarded.

  They were just doing their jobs, but I needed some time to myself. And it was a just a bookstore. The biggest threat in there was the possibility of getting a paper cut.

  “Ten minutes,” I told them with just the right amount of authority. Any harder than that would have come across as disrespectful.

  They let the issue go. They knew that arguing with me wouldn’t go anywhere.

  I walked into the store. I was instantly greeted by the smell of newly published books. God, I love that scent.

  The place was moderately crowded. No one seemed to have recognized me yet.

  I looked around for any employees, someone who could guide me to my destination. I spotted a few, but they all seemed to be busy with other customers.

  Oh well. I would just have to find the book I was looking for myself. Not a big deal.

  I began to walk around between the shelves, exploring the titles. It took me a while to find the area that housed the genre I was looking for. Once there, I analyzed the alphabetical order all the books were in.

  “If D is here,” I mumbled to myself, “then E must be—”

  “I was just a few minutes late.”

  The voice was that of a female. I turned and looked around to see where it was coming from. I saw the heads of two people in the next row over. One male. One female. I instantly started to take in the scene. If you want to be a good politician, you have to be a master at knowing what’s going on between people just by looking at them.

  I put my skills to the test. Judging by the plastic name tags they were both wearing like necklaces, and the age difference between them, as well as their body language, I guessed that the man was the manager of the store. The woman was one of his employees.

  The rest filled itself into the blanks. She was a little late to get to work. And he wasn’t happy about it.

  Punctuality is something I can appreciate as an Englishman. If you’re late to work, expect to be reprimanded.

  But not like this. No, this guys’s tone was starting to get more and more agitated. He was acting like she just run over his grandma.

  So she was late. Dock her pay and move on. No need to completely humiliate her.

  Several times the woman opened her mouth to say something, but the man cut her off. He wasn’t yelling, but I had a feeling the only reason he wasn’t is because he didn’t want to make a scene in front of the customers. Neither of them had noticed my presence yet.

  I could see the side of the woman’s face. She was barely keeping her anger at bay. The fear of being fired was the only thing stopping her from speaking out.

  This was turning into bullying. I had to step in. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself, but something had to be done.

  I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I just allowed this to continue.

  Little did I know that my life was about to change forever.

  Chapter 2

  I moved forward.

  The hushed lecture coming from the man continued even as I approached him from behind. He was obscuring the woman from my view. He wasn’t a very muscular man, but he was tall. Slightly taller than my six-foot-two frame.

  I wasn’t sure if the woman had noticed me yet. Her boss certainly hadn’t.

  I considered tapping him on the shoulder to give him a good spook, but quickly decided against it. It was best to be as direct as possible.

  “Excuse me,” I said calmly.

  The guy whirled around, his eyes wide. He was about fifty years old. He had a definite failed professor look to him. Someone who was probably a social outcast in school, and was now taking advantage of the power he had to treat his subordinates like dirt.

  The man recovered in a few seconds. “Yes?” he asked, eyebrows raised. “What can I do for you?” He wasn’t happy about being interrupted during his lecture, but he didn’t want to lose his temper with a customer. So he was doing his best to step on both sides of the fence. The result gave him a gawkish scarecrow-like demeanor.

  “I th
ink you need to calm down, mate,” I said “You’re tearing the girl into shreds. So she was a little late to work. Big deal. It’s not the end of the world. We’re in New York City. There’s a lot of people here. Maybe she did the best she could, but just couldn’t make it on time.”

  I could see the anger flaring to life in the man’s eyes. Now he no longer cared about offending a customer. “I don’t see how this is any of your business,” he said flatly, looking like an obnoxious jackass.

  “Oh, you don’t, do you?” I replied with a smile. I put my hands into the pockets of my trousers. I was sure I looked as smug as I felt. “Well, that’s to be expected. You don’t look like a particularly bright person. You not being able to see how this is any of my business is the least of your problems. You probably can’t see much of anything. That’s how ignoramuses are.”

  He looked like his brain was starting to hurt. In America, I’m sure it’s a lot of throwing profanity back and forth. Straight and to the point. But in England, insulting someone is an art form. You have to make an effort to be clever about it.

  “I don’t…” the man trailed off. He was struggling to comprehend the situation now.

  “You don’t understand? Is that what you were about to say? That doesn’t surprise me. Now please, piss off and go do what you normally do at this time. Leave this poor woman alone.” I glanced at the woman’s face and saw her features properly for the first time.

  My heart started to beat faster. And it wasn’t because I was confronting the manager of the store. It was her. The woman. The girl. Whatever you want to call her. She was doing something to me. My blood was starting to boil.

  She was very pretty. But not the type of woman I usually went for. I preferred sophisticated, elegant women in my own age group. This girl didn’t fit that bill at all. She couldn’t be more than twenty-one or twenty-two. Her beauty and charm were tied into her ingenue look. The best way I can describe her is to say that she would have been right at home as the lead actress in a Broadway production of Romeo and Juliet. Innocent, but with a naughty side.

  Well now. This was an interesting development.

  The man snapped out of his daze. “Listen, buddy. I’m the manager here. Not you. She,” he gestured with his head towards the girl, “belongs to me. So get lost.”

  She belongs to me? Seriously? This buffoon was on a serious ego trip. He needed to be brought back to Earth. Hard.

  And to think, I came in there just to get a book. This was the last thing I expected to happen.

  Life comes at you fast. You never know what’s going to happen next. So be ready for everything.

  Chapter 3

  I took a step closer to the man.

  Even through my suit, one can see that I had a muscular frame and clearly looked after myself. People in my position couldn’t get into physical confrontations with random strangers. Or anyone, for that matter. I didn’t want to start an international incident.

  London mayor attacks local businessman while visiting United States.

  I could picture that headline perfectly. The press would have a field day with me if I so much as tripped that joker.

  So intimidation tactics would have to do the trick. And don’t let the expensive suit fool you. I wasn’t always so posh. I came from a middle-class family. I got into fights growing up, same as every other teenage boy.

  “Do you know who I am?” I fought the urge to cringe at the line as it left my mouth. I know that I sounded like a total prat. Or as Americans call it: a douchebag.

  I promise I had never used that line before. Not once. But it was necessary to do so now. I had to protect the girl’s honor.

  “I don’t give two shits who you are,” the manager said. To his credit, he wasn’t backing down.

  Okay then. I would have to take things further. Time to reveal to him who exactly he was dealing with. But I knew he wasn’t going to be cooperative with the next step of my plan. I would have to ask the girl for help.

  “What’s your name?” I said, looking right at her.

  She made eye contact with me. The moment was brief, but it caused her to start blushing. It was subtle, but I could detect the change in skin tone on her cheeks. “Nicole,” she replied in a small voice.

  “Beautiful name,” I said, before getting to the point. “Nicole, could you do me a favor?” She looked cowed. As if she expected to me to ask her for a blowjob right there in the middle of the bookstore. “Could you please take out your phone?” Nicole furrowed her brow in confusion, but did as she was told. “Good girl. Now, go on the internet and search for the name Nathan Prescott.”

  “What the hell is this?” the manager scoffed as Nicole started typing away. Her thumbs worked at a lightning pace. Her generation is good at that sort of thing.

  “Just wait and see,” I replied indifferently. I already knew how this was going to go. He was going to back down. Believe me. And not only that, he would apologize to me and Nicole. Very soon.

  “Okay,” Nicole said as she completed the task. “I found what you’re looking for. Nathan Prescott is the youngest mayor in the history of London,” she began to read.

  “Now look up a picture of him.” Wait for it. Here it comes. Nicole gasped. She was shocked. That let me know that she found what I wanted her to see. “Now show your boss the picture of the mayor.”

  The manager didn’t seem interested, to say the least. He scowled at me as Nicole held her phone underneath his eye-line. Slowly and suspiciously, he finally looked down. His eyes widened in panic. His mouth opened up in a small O shape.

  That smug grin was still on my face. And it wasn’t in any hurry to leave.

  “Are you feeling alright?” I asked the man. “You look a little pale.”

  He focused in on me. His mouth was still open. “I’m so sorry,” he said, almost forcing the words out. “I didn’t know.”

  I told you he would apologize to me. But that’s not the end of it.

  “Shouldn’t you be saying sorry to someone else?”

  The manager now closed his mouth. He rubbed his lips against each other. I could feel his resentment for me. But he didn’t have the guts to say anything. He knew that if I wanted to, I could get him fired.

  But I wouldn’t do that. Just as long as he cooperated.

  The man turned towards Nicole. He balls his hands into fists. “I’m… I’m sorry, Nicole. I got carried away.”

  “And you’ll never treat her or any other employee like that again, will you?” I chimed in.

  The man shook his head from side to side. “No. I won’t.”

  “You promise.”

  It wasn’t a question.

  He was still looking at Nicole, even as he addressed me. “I promise.”

  “Good.” I sighed and took my hands out of my pockets. I placed them on my belt and just stood there like that. The epitome of cockiness. “Now it’s up to Nicole to accept your apology.”

  Even if she hadn’t forgiven the man, I wouldn’t have gotten him fired. He was an ass, but he probably had a wife and children to look after. Still though, this would be a good learning experience for him. Sometimes a man needs a jolt to set him straight.

  Chapter 4

  Nicole had all the power.

  She looked right at her manager, the man who was giving her such a hard time earlier. “It’s fine, Mr. McGrady. Forget about it. I’ll try to leave earlier from now on so I don’t keep getting late.”

  The condescending tone in her voice made it very hard for me to not start laughing. She was enjoying every bit of this. For once, she got to put her manager at her mercy.

  But he was still getting off easy. A little embarrassment wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him.

  Nicole could have done so much more damage. But she was showing compassion. What a woman.

  The manager, Mr. McGrady turned to look at me. He was desperate to be dismissed from the situation.

  “You can go,” I said, barely looking at him. I had e
yes for only one person right now. This girl. Nicole. I even liked saying the name inside my head.

  The man wasted no time in scurrying away. He didn’t run. But there was a definite sense of purpose in his stride.

  Now he was out of my sight. This would teach him a valuable lesson about respecting others.

  Nicole and I were alone. I looked right at her. She shyly diverted her attention to her shoes. She didn’t strike me as the sort of person who was easily intimidated by men. That meant my job title was getting to her.

  “All good?” I said. Simple, and a solid icebreaker.

  Nicole looked up at me, realizing that she couldn’t keep avoiding eye contact. “Yes. Thank you for asking.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, which drew my eyes towards her tits. They were the perfect size. A lot of men drool over large breasted women. Not me. I want a nice handful. Not a pillow cushion. “And thank you for helping me with Mr. McGrady.”

  I shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal at all. “I was just there for moral support. You had it under control.” No, she really didn’t. But there’s nothing wrong with telling her what she wanted to hear. I know how to charm a woman.

  But what exactly was I charming her for? I couldn’t possibly want to sleep with her. She was too young. Probably a university girl working in a bookshop for the summer. I knew she shouldn’t get mixed up with a man like me.