Corinne

This was it. I was about to begin my first evening with Cooper—the man who offered me a no-strings-attached sexual relationship centered around my pleasure. The man who made me want to crush my lips to his one second, and run in the other direction the next. The man who also happened to be my boss.

Come on, Corinne, pull yourself together.

When I reached Cooper’s front door, I paused to take a deep breath and center myself before knocking.

Why was I so nervous? This date was a sure thing. No unbearable small talk, no cringe-worthy oversharing, no awkward fumbling through whether he’d kiss me good night or not. The whole point of our arrangement was to make things between us as simple as possible. We took emotions right out of the equation. We were doing this for me, so I would finally know what kind of pleasure I’d been missing out on, and have the confidence to take charge of my sex life.

So, why did I feel so uncertain about what I was about to walk into?

I took another deep breath and adjusted the waistline of my skintight jeans. They weren’t the most comfortable item of clothing I owned, but they sure made my ass look great—and I could use all the confidence in the world tonight. I’d paired them with a pale pink top that showed what I thought was a good amount of cleavage, though Mauve had commented to me once that if the neckline on it was any higher, I’d look like a nun. Still, I felt pretty, maybe even something close to sexy, and I was as ready as I’d ever be to get the festivities started.

I knocked and within moments, Cooper appeared. As he stood there, his tall frame taking up the entire doorway, I had to take a moment to regain my composure. In the office, Cooper always looked good. More relaxed than Gavin or Quinn, maybe, but his sleek button-downs made him look put together, even when he had his sleeves rolled up.

But tonight? He looked positively edible. If Cooper in the office was nice to look at, Cooper outside of work was freaking irresistible. He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a gray Henley shirt with the top button undone, the soft fabric outlining the muscles on his arms and chest just enough to leave little to the imagination.

“You look exquisite.” Cooper smiled, snapping me out of my trance. “Please, come in.” He stepped to the side out of the doorway, giving me space to walk around him.

I smiled weakly and ducked through the door, my heart pounding in my chest. “You look nice too.”

Standing in the entryway, I took a quick look around, silently marveling at how polished the whole place looked. While I wasn’t a professional at home decoration, I could tell that Cooper had good taste. Leather, wood, granite . . . all his surfaces looked natural and expensive. I loved my little apartment, but I couldn’t imagine living somewhere this nice and put together.

“Your home is beautiful,” I said as Cooper closed the door and turned to face me.

“Thank you.” He placed a hand lightly on the small of my back. “Dinner’s almost ready. Can I get you a glass of wine?”

I felt my cheeks redden and struggled to keep myself from jumping at his touch.

You’re safe here. He’s only trying to make you feel comfortable.

“Wine would be great, thanks,” I said and followed Cooper into the kitchen.

He poured us each a glass of red, and I was grateful for something to settle my nerves. From the kitchen, I could see that Cooper had set his dining room table for two, complete with a white tablecloth and a single candle waiting to be lit on a delicate candlestick. The gesture was sweet, but my stomach churned at the romantic implications.

Cooper peeked into the oven, smiled to himself, and pulled a dish out, placing it triumphantly on a hot pad on the counter.

“What are we having?” I took a sip of my wine, trying my best to be casual.

“Lasagna.” He shot me a cheeky grin. “It’s a recipe I learned a few years back on vacation in Italy.”

I choked a little on my wine, doing my best to play it off as an innocent cough. “You cook?”

He smiled. “Not really. If I’m being honest, this is the only thing I can make. In fact, when I told Gavin I’d be cooking for you, he sent his wife, Emma, over to make sure I didn’t burn the place down.”

“You told Gavin I was coming over?”

My head started swimming with nervous thoughts about other people knowing. Who else had he told? Did everyone in the office know? Did they all think I was easy? Cooper was my boss, which meant this wasn’t exactly appropriate.

“I mentioned it in passing, yeah,” Cooper said casually, but I could tell from the weird look on his face that there was more to it.

I didn’t want to pry, though, so I shrugged it off. We weren’t here to bare our deep dark secrets. We were here to do the other thing that scared the living daylights out of me.

Opening myself up. Literally.

I took another long swallow of wine.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Starving, actually.”

Cooper served us each a generous portion of the lasagna, complete with a side salad and a thick slice of Italian bread. When we sat down to eat, he lit the single candle on the table. It was a little corny, but I could tell he was trying to be sweet, so I decided not to say anything about it.

As we began eating, our conversation moved easily over light and casual topics. We talked about living in the city, our favorite places to eat, our go-to coffee orders, things like that. Cooper was easy to talk to and seemed interested in what I had to say. I still couldn’t tell if it was genuine or if he was just putting on a show so I’d feel more comfortable, but I tried not to think about it too much. Despite the butterflies still fluttering in my stomach, I was having a good time, and I wasn’t about to let my personal anxieties get in the way of that.

“So, uh, I want to explain a little bit about the whole telling-Gavin thing,” Cooper said, looking across the table at me.

“Okay,” I said, my voice wavering a little. Part of me was dying to know what he’d told his brother, but another part of me wanted to pretend that what we were doing was a giant secret.

“Gavin and I have a bit of a . . . troubled history. You know his wife, Emma? She used to work for the company. Not as a regular escort, but as a personal escort that Gavin and I shared. It wasn’t as creepy as it sounds—we just wanted someone on hand so we’d always have a date for events. As you can imagine, things got complicated really fast. Gavin and I both ended up falling for her. And, uh, I guess it’s clear how that love triangle ended.” Cooper paused to take a sip of his wine. The look on his face was grim and remorseful.

Why was he telling me all this? I couldn’t decide if I wanted to know more, or if I was ready to get out of this conversation before he expected me to share something equally personal. Before I had a chance to say anything, though, Cooper continued.

“I wanted you to know that I’m over it. Emma and I cleared the air earlier today when she came over to help me with the cooking. My feelings for her are purely friendly now. Or brotherly, I guess. We’re in-laws, after all.” Cooper smiled to himself, and I could see that he was being genuine.

“Well, thanks for telling me that, I guess,” I said, fumbling over how to respond. “But you didn’t have to share all that with me, you know. We don’t have to dredge up our deepest darkest secrets, do we?” I silently prayed that he didn’t expect me to reciprocate his sharing, even if it felt like he would be understanding of whatever I wanted to tell him.

Cooper smiled. “No, don’t feel like you need to tell me anything. Not until you’re ready.”

I smiled back, thankful for his patience.

We chatted a little while longer before clearing our plates and doing the dishes together. I insisted on cleaning it all up myself because he had cooked, but Cooper refused to let me do the dishes alone. Once the kitchen was clean, we each poured ourselves another glass of wine and settled in on his plush leather couch.

I sat near him, but not too close. We talked about small things—television, music, and the like—before there was a brief lull in the conversation. Cooper cleared his throat and gave me a serious look.

“Tell me one thing no one knows about you,” he said. It wasn’t really a question, but it didn’t feel like a command. He was trying to move us into a slightly deeper conversation, and it made my pulse thrum.

“I can’t sleep without a white-noise machine,” I said shyly, not daring to meet his gaze.

I could see the hint of a smile on his lips. He was silent for a beat before saying quietly, “Thank you for sharing.”

I turned to face him, his green eyes piercing mine. I knew then that Cooper was unlike any other man I’d ever met. He was huge and handsome, had cooked me dinner, wanted to help me out of my shell, promised me orgasms, and was willing to supply me with orgasms. It was all a little overwhelming.

Cooper continued asking me questions, delving deeper into my preferences and limits, especially sexually. I told him that I wasn’t interested in pain—no whips, no spanking, no being tied up. The last thing I wanted was to be humiliated. He listened intently, nodding along to everything I said. Once I was done explaining what I wasn’t looking for in this relationship, he took my hand in his, his giant palm making mine look small in comparison.

“I promised that I will always make you feel cherished and safe and good. All I want is for you to feel the pleasure you’ve been denied,” he said, looking intensely in my eyes.

I nodded and looked down at my hand in his. I didn’t understand why Cooper was doing this, why he was so intent on making sure that I was okay. But I appreciated it.

A wave of emotion welled up inside me, a mixture of thankfulness, relief, and a hint of arousal. I brought my gaze back up to his, pausing briefly at his mouth. He leaned toward me, offering his lips for the taking. Ignoring the butterflies in my stomach, I leaned into him and pressed my lips to his, soft and gentle, allowing myself to get comfortable with the feel of his mouth on mine. We continued like that for a while, kissing slowly and softly, and it felt like he was coaxing me into more.

Whatever he was doing, one thing was clear to me.

It was working.

I relaxed into him, and we both shifted closer to each other, our hands wandering over each other’s bodies. Cooper ran his fingertips gently across my back, down my side, and over my hip before beginning the whole motion again, and my skin felt electric under his touch. I pressed my hands against his chest, savoring the way his muscles rose and fell to the rhythm of his breathing. We were both breathing heavily, small gasps and moans escaping from my mouth every time his tongue wandered over to my neck or across my collarbone.

Warmth spread from between my legs to the ends of my entire body. I was wetter than I was the first time we kissed—and I didn’t think that was possible. I could tell that Cooper was turned on too, but if I had to guess by how patient he was being, I would have said that he had no interest in going any further.

The need for more grew stronger inside me.

Was Cooper always this restrained? What about all those orgasms I was promised?

I kissed him harder and faster, moving my tongue more feverishly against his, and Cooper seemed to get the hint. Without skipping a beat, he placed his hand on my thigh, running it down to my knee before moving up between my legs. He touched me gently over my jeans, and I could feel that my panties were soaked through. I moaned at his touch, and his fingers moved deftly to my waist, unbuttoning my jeans and undoing the zipper. My heart pounded harder than ever, and even though I was nervous, no part of me wanted him to stop.

Within moments, Cooper moved his body over mine, peeling my jeans off and settling in between my legs. I moved my knees wider apart to make room for his massive frame as he began kissing the insides of my thighs. I threw my head back on the couch, my breathing ragged in anticipation of what I knew what was about to happen.

“Tell me this is okay, little dove,” he murmured as his fingers slid under the waistband of my lace panties.

“Yes, please,” I whispered.

He pulled my panties down, and I lifted my bottom so he could remove them completely.

The moment his tongue came into contact with my clit, I felt like my heart was going to explode. He licked slowly and purposefully over the length of my folds, and I couldn’t contain the low moans that came out of me. As Cooper continued working his mouth over my sex, my entire body responded to him. My back arched and my moans were frequent—the pleasure overtook me in a way I never thought it could.

Without thinking, I reached for his head, running my fingers through his hair as my hips moved to the rhythm of his tongue. Within minutes, I felt an orgasm building inside me, and I could tell that Cooper felt it too. He lapped at my folds with more purpose than ever, coaxing me to climax, and when I came, it felt like my soul left my body. I melted into the couch, letting waves of pleasure wash over me until there was nothing left.

Cooper rose to his feet and sat down next to me, running his hand tenderly over my thigh. We sat there for a moment, our chests heaving, and suddenly, I became aware of how exposed I was. My jeans and panties were in a puddle on the floor, my nakedness fully on display. A wave of shame washed over me and I jumped to my feet, pulling up my pants and hastily buttoning them.

What have I just done?

I had to get out of there. Now.

“I, uh, I have to go,” I said, looking frantically around the room to find my purse, my phone, my shoes. I gathered my things in a hurry, making a point not to look at Cooper. I could hear him saying something indistinct, but I wasn’t listening. I didn’t care what he had to say. All I knew was that I couldn’t be around him anymore, that I needed to find somewhere else to be—and fast.

Before he could stop me, I ran out the door and closed it behind me, taking the elevator down and walking swiftly to my car.

The drive home was a blur, my mind racing with frantic, embarrassed thoughts. I couldn’t believe that Cooper had just seen so much of my naked body, that I had let him do the things he did to me. No matter how good it had felt in the moment, I couldn’t shake the shame that consumed me at the thought of myself on display for him, fully exposed on the couch he sat on every day.

When I got home, I immediately took a shower, still numb from my reaction to the intimacy Cooper and I had shared. It was too much—I knew that now. Even with how patient he had been in the moment, I felt like we had crossed a line, and I didn’t know if I could ever look him in the eye again. As I did my best to scrub the shame off my skin, I could feel my heart pounding throughout my entire body.

I wasn’t prepared for the level of intimacy and intensity that Cooper had to offer. I thought I’d wrapped my head around our arrangement, but I guess I’d pictured two people under the sheets in a dark room, not what had just happened where I’d been so exposed, so worshipped by his mouth. It was overwhelming.

One thought kept running through my mind, louder and clearer than all the rest.

I never should have said yes to Cooper’s offer.