I cannot get Molly out of my mind. Since sleeping with her, all I can think about is her soft lips, her soft pussy, and her perfect ass.

I cannot deny what she does to my cock. When we had our first kiss, I wanted to push her shirt up her body and pin her hands over her head and screw her right against the wall of the empty dining room at the open house.

I showed more gentlemanly restraint with her than I ever have with a woman.

But that might partly be because Molly wasn’t throwing herself at me like most women do.

I want to be with Molly in her apartment, cooking her a proper meal and feeding it to her in bed, but instead, I’m in my pajamas, on the couch in Rich’s apartment, fielding emails and responding to my brother’s many texts when I realize I don’t even have Molly’s number.

In all of the craziness that’s gone down over the past few days, I never even got her number.

At least I know where she lives.

The emails about the headache of a lawsuit seem standard. There are emails between O’Malley and Lee that all of the partners at the two firms are copied on. O’Malley gave me and Eric strict instructions not to engage the other side, not to involve ourselves in the talks with the other firm or with their attorneys and strategists.

Leave the lawyering to the lawyers, he said.

But I know Eric wants to get in the mud with the guys. He wants to be a shot-caller, even though he’s really just the numbers guy.

Not merely the numbers guy, but you know what I mean. I want him to stick to what he knows best.

Identifying opportunities. Leveraging our assets.

My phone rings, and of course it’s him.

“Hey, man. What’s up? I’m still not working hard enough for you?”

“Drew, you might have to come back to the city tonight. I think the other side wants to have a meeting.”

I toss my laptop on the couch beside me and flip on the TV. I’m not trying to be cavalier about the whole thing, and I admit I was nervous about it at the beginning, but we have this in the bag.

And I’m not shy about telling my brother that.

“You think they want a meeting?” I laugh as I talk calmly into the phone.

“Yeah. I mean, they said they would be in touch about a possible compromise.”

“I told you, Eric. No compromises. Don’t you remember how they acted like a bunch of pussies when Lee called O’Malley? With them trying to put on that faux-aggressive posturing shit with the agreement? I should go to his office right now and tell him where he can shove the agreement.”

“Just get back here, okay? How fucking weak would it look if O’Malley and I were there and you weren’t?”

“No, man.” I hit mute on the TV when I get to some early-evening psycho-babble talk show. “Think about how cool that would look. Like, I’m so sure we are going to win that I don’t even show up for the meeting.”

“And whose purposes would that be serving? The firm’s, or would that be for your own personal gain?”

“I just think it would look badass.”

“It would look cocky, and that’s the kind of antics that garnered the reputation you have.”

I can feel through the phone that my brother is a little pissed off at me.

“Hey, if you want a reputation like mine, maybe you should start blowing off some important meetings.”

“Blowing them off? Is going on a bender in Miami with a couple of lingerie models your idea of blowing off a meeting?”

“I don’t know.” I smile and put my feet up on the coffee table. “Something like that.”

“But all of that is behind you now, right? Now that you’ve met Kristy?”

“It’s Molly.”

“Oh, you remember her name. How charming. And when you come back home, you aren’t going to just forget her like you did all those other girls in high school? And in college?”

“I thought my brother would be happy that I finally met the love of my life.”

“I’m certainly happy for you. Thrilled. I just think you should be paying more attention to your work. I’m not about to let our whole firm go up in flames just because you’re pussy-whipped by some bridge and tunnel chick.”

“You’re going to regret making that comment when you have to give me and Molly a toast at our wedding. And maybe I should remind you that I negotiated one of our biggest deals while I was on a video conference on a boat off the coast of Crete with one of those lingerie models you mentioned earlier?”

“Fine. You’re right. You’re the best thing that ever happened to this company.”

“Dude, I am the company. With you. We can do whatever we want.”

“You know that’s not true. We have shareholders. Investors. We have to answer to them, buddy. It’s not just you and me running the show anymore. We have a million invisible strings attached to us, pulling us in every direction. Just remember that.”

“You know, maybe I should make a little trip into the city. Take Molly out on the town.”

“Just make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“Do I ever not know what I’m doing?”

I tend to a jammed door in Molly’s next-door neighbor’s apartment, and then make my way to her place. I don’t have her number, but I decide that she won’t mind if I just pop in.

I knock on the door like I usually do, and it opens a few seconds later, with Molly standing there, looking as gorgeous as ever.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, a coy smile creeping across her lips.

“I came to take you out on a date.”

“Oh, really? How do you know I don’t have other plans already?”

“I don’t. But I know you’d cancel them for me.”

“Do these lines really work on women? I mean, do women really go for the cocky type like you?”

“It seems that they do. I mean, here I am, standing in your apartment. Looking at you. Seeing you.”

I take a few steps toward her and brush her hair away from her shoulders. They are delicate, petite, flawless, and perfect.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Drew Anderson. We are neighbors. You’re my super. That’s it.”

“That’s not it,” I whisper in her ear. “That’s not all you want, is it? I can tell you want more. Just one little taste of my cock wasn’t enough for you, was it?”

I feel my jeans get tight against my crotch. I want her so badly, but I want to prove that she isn’t just another hot piece of ass to me.

Because she isn’t. If she had been, I wouldn’t have pursued her after stumbling into her apartment that first time. I would have know she wasn’t interested, and just moved on.

It’s not like me to chase a woman who isn’t interested. I don’t have time for that. And I don’t need it in my life.

There are more than enough women throwing themselves at me.

But again, part of why I was attracted to her, part of why I wanted her so badly, was the fact that she didn’t throw herself at me as soon as she met me, like most women do.

Most women who go to that bar where we first met are only interested in one thing.

Or two things, if you count my money as something they want, next to getting laid.

“You do want it, don’t you?”

I feel her body shudder at my words, even though we aren’t touching.

I slip my arm around her waist and pull her in close to me. Her shampoo smells like lime and lavender, and she’s breathing fast. I can nearly feel her heart beating against mine. I want to tell her to calm down, that we have all the time in the world.

“I...yes,” she sighs into my arms. “I do want it.”

“How bad? I want to hear you say it.”

I put my hands on her chest and cup her perfect breasts through her thin t-shirt. She’s wearing a black lace bra underneath. I love how simply beautiful she is. Her big brown eyes say everything she wants to say, but I love pulling her out of her shell. Cracking her open, and discovering what’s beneath the surface.

“Drew, you know what I want.” She looks up into my eyes and presses her body against mine.

“I want to give it to you. And more. Let me take you out. Tonight. You showed me your turf, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I let you take me out on a date and didn’t take you out on one in return.”

“That’s very progressive of you,” she says, her eyes sparkling, a smile tugging at the corners of her pretty pink lips.

“I’m a modern man. What can I say? We’ll never go dutch, but I have to take you out, because you took me out. It’s only fair.”

The light from the window in the small apartment illuminates her eyes, and I can see the word yes forming on the tip of her tongue.

“Can I go out in this?” she asks.

“I don’t know. Do a little spin for me.”

She steps aside, tentatively, and walks in a slow, small circle, glancing over her shoulder as her gaze snaps away and then back to me. Her little white sundress is cute, but it isn’t what I have in mind for her.

It’s so strange to date a woman who doesn’t need to be seen in the latest runway trends all the time. It’s refreshing. Molly dresses for herself. She doesn’t need to impress anyone.

Maybe it isn’t fair of me to compare Molly to my ex, but there really is no comparison. They are leagues apart.

“I’m afraid that what you’re wearing isn’t quite appropriate for where I’d like to take you. And would you mind very much if we stopped at my office quickly to check in with my brother? Let him know I haven’t pulled some Joaquin Phoenix stunt on him while I’ve been gone?”

“Ooh! Going to the big man’s office? Are you sure they allow lowly people like me into the building?”

“They would be lucky to have you.”

“So I finally get to see you in your natural habitat?”

“Baby,” I say, stepping toward her, looping my arms around her waist and pulling her close to me, “this is my natural habitat. This is where I belong.”

Her breasts are pressed against my chest, her breath becoming rapid and heavy. I want to slip my hand up her shirt and feel every inch of her, drink her in and feel her. But I don’t do it.

It takes all of my energy not to, but I don’t. I have more important things to do with her first.