Rodney
In the light of day, with a throbbing headache that felt a hell of a lot like a hangover, everything looked different. I had woken up on Sunday regretting what I had done. Not the sex, that had been fantastic, but who I had done it with. Even though Danielle had been the object of my obsession for years, finally doing the deed might have been a mistake.
I didn’t want to think about it that way. I wasn’t the type of person that enjoyed meaningless sex, but there were so many reasons why we shouldn’t have done it. Reasons that I couldn’t ignore when I was sober and reasons I shouldn’t have ignored when I was drunk.
On Monday morning, I didn’t know how to handle it. I would have to see her again and work together with her the entire day. I had no idea what to do or say when I saw her. To make matters worse, like an asshole, I had fallen asleep right after the fact, and she had let herself out. And all that with Tommy in the house.
God. I had no idea how she felt about any of it because I hadn’t been able to ask her that night, and I had been a coward, not calling on Sunday. I was a grown-ass adult, and I didn’t know how to handle this.
We couldn’t do it again. I had known it the moment I had woken up on Sunday morning. My cock had throbbed with the memory of her, my body satiated for the first time in a long time, and I knew I had made a mistake, one that couldn’t be repeated.
I didn’t know how I would break the news to her, but I had to tell her. I had to be firm about it. Danielle and I were in a working relationship now, but I was still the adult, and she was still so young.
Thinking back to how she had been in my bed, naked and writhing, it was impossible to think of her as young and innocent, but she was half my age. She was Mark’s daughter. The whole thing was wrong.
I would have to man up and take responsibility for my actions. It had been easier to be “the man” when it had come down to sex. Now that it was time for rational decisions, it seemed so much harder. It had been so much easier thinking with my dick than my head.
Still, it had to be done. On the way to work, I prepared a speech, running it over in my mind again and again, cementing the words I had to say to her.
I arrived at the office the same time I always did, nodding at Clarice at the front desk and walking to the elevator. As usual, Danielle slipped into the elevator with me. This time, she was the one to press the button to close the door, closing us in alone together. For the first time, I wished another employee would jump into the elevator and save me from being alone with her. But I was being a coward again.
“Morning, Rodney,” Danielle said sweetly.
I opened my mouth to tell her what was on my mind straight away. It was best to get it over and done with. But Danielle held out a Starbucks cup to me. I frowned, taking it.
“It’s a café latte grande,” she said. “With no sugar and skimmed milk.”
I didn’t know what to say. It was my favorite. “How did you know?”
Danielle shrugged. “It’s my job as your secretary to bring you coffee, right? I asked around.”
“Thank you,” I said hesitantly.
Danielle smiled again, and it was a sexy smile. I had a feeling I would find any of her smiles sexy after Saturday night. I had to tell her that we couldn’t be together again, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. She was being a sweetheart this morning. Also, I was the one that instigated things between us by kissing her. Yes, she had been seductive as hell, but I could have said no. I just hadn’t wanted to. I still didn’t.
The atmosphere in the elevator was thick again, with sexual tension in the air. It was even worse than before. God, help me, but I wanted her. I wanted her badly. I didn’t tell her that we couldn’t do it again. I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. But I didn’t act on my desires, either. I didn’t touch her. Point for me.
Today, it felt like forever before the elevator reached the top floor. She was too close for comfort, and I could practically feel her body heat radiating from her. She smelled like she had Saturday night, a mixture of perfume and her natural scent. A mixture that made me horny. I couldn’t get Saturday night out of my head. I flashed on how quickly she had come for me and how delicious it had been to be the one to make her fall apart.
I pushed the thought away. I couldn’t think like this. Dreaming about her and fantasizing about her were what had gotten me in this mess in the first place. If I hadn’t indulged in dirty thoughts about fucking Danielle, I would never have made a move on her when I was drunk. This was all my fault.
When I glanced at Danielle, she was staring straight ahead. It was almost like she was waiting for me to make the first move. I was relieved. Today, I could keep myself in check. Or at least, I hoped so. With the desire as thick in the air as it was, and with Danielle looking sexy as fuck again, I wasn’t sure how long I would last. But I had to put a lid on it. I had to keep control of this situation before I lost myself completely. Because if that happened, I knew exactly what I would do.
Her.
The elevator finally opened on the top floor, and I stormed away, leaving the elevator first without letting her walk before me. Danielle followed behind me. I furiously unlocked the office door, walked through to my partition, and closed the door behind me, shutting myself in without saying another word to her. I closed all the blinds so I wouldn’t look at her. I put my hands on my hips and finally breathed.
I was being a total dick. I knew that. Storming away from her like that and shutting myself in the office like a child was rude. But I didn’t know what to do, and I needed time to think about it. When I had been away from her, it had been easy to decide it wasn’t a good idea. The moment I was around her, all rational thought disappeared, and all I could think about was the curve of her body, the taste of her pussy on my lips, and the feel of her body tight and contracting on my cock. I shook my head to get rid of the thoughts.
I threw myself into my work, taking care of emails, documents, phone calls. I made two long-distance calls and one conference call, phone calls I had been putting off for a while. There was no motivation to work like running away from something else.
When I finally looked at the clock, it was almost noon. I was relieved time had passed so quickly. Half of the day was already done, and I had made it through. A knock on the office door brought Danielle to me when she opened it. I swallowed hard.
“I hope I’m not bothering you,” Danielle said brightly, neutrally. “I have a message for you from Harry Fontana. He tried to call when your line was busy.”
I beckoned to Danielle, who stepped farther into my office. She walked toward me, and I couldn’t help but notice her rolling hips, her sexy stride, and the way her blouse clung to her breasts. I had never seen what they looked like. I hadn’t taken off her bra on Saturday night. It made me want to strip her clothes off her now, including the bra so I could see her totally naked.
Don’t. I scolded myself for thinking dirty thoughts. I couldn’t think about undressing her, about kissing her, or about tasting her again. Thinking about fucking her on my desk was the wrong thing to do. And yet, my mind ran away with me again.
I wanted to push up the skirt she was wearing, push her panties to the side, and bend her over my desk. I wanted to watch her round ass jiggle as I fucked her from behind. I had a perfect image of what that looked like pinned to my frontal lobe. I may have been drunk, but I hadn’t forgotten a single detail from that night.
“Thank you,” I said shortly and turned my attention to the file in front of me, even though I had already taken care of this particular document. I had effectively dismissed Danielle. Instead of turning around and walking away, making it easier for me to watch her ass move side to side as she walked and closed the door behind her, Danielle stayed. When I looked up at her again, her arms were folded over her chest, and she looked unhappy.
“Is something wrong?” she asked. She didn’t sound as upset as she looked.
I sighed and looked toward the full-length windows. It was easier not to make eye contact.
“Nothing’s wrong,” I started. “But what happened between us on Saturday night can never happen again.”
When I glanced at her, she was frowning. “I know it’s not standard procedure,” she started, but I shook my head until she stopped talking. I didn’t want to hear her reasoning. I didn’t want her to have the slightest chance of changing my mind.
“I am your boss, Danielle. You work for me. It’s not professional.”
“Do you have an office policy against it?” she asked.
I shook my head. I couldn’t lie about it. “No, but it’s the principle that counts. Besides, it’s about more than that. Your dad is my best friend. Your dad. And he’s an investor in the company. He puts money into my business. I have a business and a personal relationship with Mark. How do you think that comes across?”
“Comes across to whom?” Danielle asked. “No one knows about you and me, and it came across to me that you wanted me on Saturday night. It had nothing to do with business.”
She was right, but I couldn’t buckle on this.
“I know you want to argue with me about this, Danielle, but we can’t do it again. You understand, don’t you?”
Danielle nodded slowly. “I guess I do,” she said. She sounded a little deflated, but I was relieved to hear those words from her mouth. “If this is what you want, I won’t hold it against you, but I won’t forget it ever happened, and I won’t apologize for it. I don’t regret it at all, not one bit.”
I watched her as she delivered her speech, and her stubbornness was attractive, too. Dammit, was there nothing about this woman that would put me off? Through the open glass door, we both heard the phone on her desk ringing.
“I guess that’s my cue,” Danielle said, turning around.
She walked toward the door, and I watched her leave. I couldn’t help it. She might have told me that she understood, but she was doing nothing to be less seductive. She swayed her hips as she walked, flipping her hair over her shoulder, and as she turned to close the glass door behind her, she gave me a look that held smoldering desire.
Naturally, that made me want her more than anything. Fuck, I was in trouble.