In Too Deep: The Ascot Series

By Kat Leigh

Brandt Colson is a bad boy in a business suit. Having spent life going toe toe-to-toe to become the pinnacle of success in business, no one would ever know that in his past hides a secret that now threatens to bring him undone. Only an equal could accept him for more than a rich maverick, but the one woman he truly wants is far too good for this hellion.

 

Lori is a smart, independent career woman, but missing something, or more specifically someone in her life. When things start to heat up with a work colleague, a man she's dreamed about for more years than she cares to admit, she has to determine exactly how much she is willing to put on the line for love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kat Leigh
• Release date: May 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201376772

Book preview

IN TOO DEEP

Kat Leigh

IN TOO DEEP

All Rights Reserved © 2022 by Kat Leigh

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by an information storage or retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by Kat Leigh.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Reader note: Contains explicit material

Brandt Colson is a bad boy in a business suit. Having spent life going toe-to-toe to become the pinnacle of success in business, no one would ever know that in his past hides a secret that now threatens to bring him undone. Only an equal could accept him for more than a rich maverick, but the one woman he truly wants is far too good for this hellion.

Lori is a smart, independent career woman, but missing something, or more specifically someone in her life. When things start to heat up with a work colleague, a man she’s dreamed about for more years than she cares to admit, she has to determine exactly how much she is willing to put on the line for love.

OTHER BOOKS IN THE ASCOT SERIES

CHAPTER 1

Ping. Lori looked at the incoming text

Have you got that paper for me? Meeting with Jamie tomorrow. Want to talk him through it.

It was 9:40pm and the third text he’d sent today. Brandt was incessant when he wanted something, but she already knew that. She’d had the team working on the strategy paper around the clock for the last few weeks. They weren’t doing some menial task, they were working up the approvals to divest an entire asset in Asia, which also meant exiting a country.

Ping. Oh for God’s sakes Brandt, give it up! she muttered under her breath.

Lori always delivered - he’d known and worked with her long enough that it shouldn’t be a question. Did he need to keep putting the acid on?

Please.

It may have been an afterthought, but she read his second text as a concession.

She typed back

Check your inbox. Sent it 5 mins ago. L

She probably should have called to walk him through it as was their modus operandi, but she was famished, and late dinner and a steaming hot shower had moved up her bodily needs from ‘nice to have’ to ‘must have’.

She shovelled the last bite of microwaved spaghetti bolognese into her mouth on the way to the bathroom, stripped off her clothes, and turned her favourite playlist up loud so she could hear it over the spray of the water. The sexy rhythmic beat of Duran Duran’s ‘Come Undone’ soothed her soul as she stood letting the water run over her face and neck in hot rivulets, easing the fullness from her mind.

By the time she hopped out there was already a missed call. No guessing from who. She dialled Brandt’s number.

I thought you would have called me.

I would have, but I had other needs first.

What other needs?

Did he think there was nothing possibly higher than the transaction? She was beyond exhausted and not up for the jousting to put him in his place - which she of very few people was known to do.

Eat, shower.

A long silence.

Too personal. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh reinstating professional mode so she could answer his questions and prepare him for tomorrow. He wasn’t being dogged simply to be a pain in the ass, in fact he was usually a hands-off leader. Ultimately the legal responsibility of this transaction rested squarely on him. He had the most serious skin in the game, and as his peer on the executive team, she owed it to him to make sure he was comfortable with the plan.

The financials stacked up, and she now took him through the fine detail – reputation implications, transfer of employees to the new owner, internal and external communications. He had been sussing out potential buyers but would of course open the asset sale to a transparent tender process. Government relations would be tricky, and she had drawn up a straw-man for the involvement of their boss and CEO, Jamie Phiffer. Brandt could tweak the plan as the situation inevitably escalated.

It’s good. You’ve positioned me well.

It was the whole team’s effort. They’re so wrapped up in confidentiality agreements they’ve barely spoken to their families in weeks, and been working around the clock. You need to do something special to acknowledge them whether we get the green light or not.

She had seconded plenty of horsepower out of Brandt’s production function to supplement her own team’s talent and expertise in professional services.

They’ll need time off too. If Jamie says yes tomorrow, I’ll assemble an execution team in preparation for board approval. Can’t have those people we move across from feasibility being exhausted for what will be a tough sex months ahead.

Christ, that was a Freudian slip!

"Six months I mean. I must be tired too. She tried to laugh it off, but that sounded worse. Don’t worry, there aren’t any errors in the paper, I’ve triple checked everything."

Go to bed Lori. I’ll call you tomorrow.

The way he said it made her heart beat faster - assertive, commanding, but not condescending. Having just inadvertently talked about sex, her mind imagined that same voice commanding her into his bed. She hung up on him, and when she finally slid between her crisp sheets, a familiar fantasy filled her dreams.

Thanks again. I owe you.

It was the last text he sent her that night.

***

The quarterly staff meeting had been set in everyone’s calendars since the start of the year. With a business their size, they could not fit the presentation on a single floor. Instead the leaders would have to deliver it twice - once in the morning, and again in the afternoon.

The floor had been set theatre style, but the three executives speaking today were keen to keep some semblance of informality, ditching the podium for three stools up front to adopt a more conversational style with the audience. A presentation screen behind them would be used sparingly to provide financials, production figures or key messages that would later be emailed to all attendees.

The 33rd floor featured expansive views of the city leading to a green space rooftop terrace. Brandt figured some of the audience were probably more interested in having an hour away from their desk watching the views than listening to Jamie, Gideon and himself go on. At least a part of him liked to think that. Public speaking wasn’t his favourite part of being a leader, but necessary all the same.

It was afternoon, and sunshine streamed in through the windows with the air-conditioning barely keeping the room cool as warm bodies filed in to fill up the seats.

They kicked off at 3pm with Jamie opening the session.

Although the presentation had already started, out of the corner of his eye, Brandt saw Lori slip into the room at the very back. All the chairs were full except the back row, and instead