Dirty News (Dirty Network Book 1) by Michelle Love (2)

“I don’t want to just be messing around with you. And I will figure out how we can be open with this. I’ve figured out how to make the competition go away. I can figure out a way to make our boss see that us dating each other won’t lead to any harassment.” The doors opened, and we walked out. I was glad to see that Gretchen had left, as it had gotten late. “We could go back to my place if you want to.”

But then both of our cells beeped, and we found that Artimus had scheduled a dinner meeting in a couple of hours, making that idea a no-go.

“Crap,” she muttered.

“Well, there goes that, huh?” I looked around to find only a few people coming through the lobby.

Another idea sprang up in my head. “You know, I think I’ll go back up to the fourth floor. No one will be in those offices at this hour. And there is that really nice private bathroom up there.”

Her eyes went wide. “Are you telling me you’ve got to poop? Cause I think it’s a little too early to be hearing that kind of thing out of you.”

I had to laugh at her. “No. And you don’t have to worry, I’m not usually the kind of guy who announces every bowel movement. I was thinking of having a little fun in that private bathroom. With you. So, what do you say to that?”

She blinked a few times before she said, “I think you just made me wet with that idea, and I’d love to meet up with you. Say in ten minutes?”

She was on board, and I was on fire for her already.

Chapter Seventeen

Lila

I couldn’t explain it even to myself, but the way Duke got to me was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. One look from him could set me off. And a few choice words could create a puddle in my panties.

Would you call it lust? Pure, sexual attraction? Or was it something more than that?

Whatever it was, I liked it.

After waiting ten minutes, I headed up to our rendezvous point with my heart pounding, pussy pulsing, and head spinning. This wasn’t like me at all.

I’d never been one to go after bad boys. A few had tried their moves on me in the past, and I’d easily brushed them off. To be honest, I’d always had a type—quiet guys with a less than dominant personality. Or I’d thought that was my type.

But Duke wasn’t like that at all. He was very dominant, but he also knew when to ease back that side of himself. And he had me doing things I wouldn’t have ever done. Like having sex at the workplace. A workplace that didn’t even want us to be involved with each other to begin with.

This rule-breaking side of me had never seen the light of day. Now that it had, it yearned to be free. And I wasn’t about to stuff it away anytime soon—not when it was allowing me to have the best sex of my life.

After a quick rap on the door, Duke was opening it and pulling me inside. “There you are.”

His hot mouth crashed onto mine, taking my breath away. His hard body pinned mine to the door, his cock already pulsing against me.

He’d already taken off his jacket and tie, and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned. I finished that job then ran my hands all over his muscly back before pulling his shirt off completely.

His hands moved under my skirt, ridding me of my panties with one jerk, ripping them right off me. Seemed I’d be doing the dinner meeting sans underwear.

I didn’t care about that at all. All I cared about was getting closer to Duke. He hiked my skirt up to my waist then dropped his pants to his ankles. Lifting me up, he brought me down on his hard cock in one swift movement. We both groaned with how good it felt to be connected again.

Using the door to help hold me up, he slammed into me, hard and unrelenting. He moved his mouth from mine to kiss my neck, driving me wild. “Duke!”

“Lila,” he murmured near my ear. “You feel so damn good.”

“So do you,” I gasped as he thrust even harder. “Oh!”

Every part of my body was overwhelmed by some sensation or another. He brought out so much in me that it boggled my mind. How had this never happened for me before?

Clamping my earlobe between his teeth, he tugged it. “I could eat you up.”

“It feels like you’re devouring me right now.” The man consumed me, took me to places I’d never been, brought me to unfamiliar territory.

A wave moved through me, sending my body into a quivering state as I came all over his cock. I whimpered as my body flushed from head to toe.

A delightful groan slipped out of him as he spilled into me with his own release. “God! What you do to me is unreal!”

I had no idea what I was doing to him. All I knew was that what he did to me felt unreal too.

Our bodies settled, slowly but surely, as we caught our breaths. He eased out of me, and I put my feet back on the floor. My head was lighter than it had been when I’d come in, my body glowing, and my heart still pounding.

“Duke, I didn’t even know what sex was until you showed me. Thank you.” I pushed my skirt back down and tucked my shirt into it again.

“You can’t give me all the credit, Lila. You’re fantastic.” He bent over to pull his pants back up.

Looking in the mirror, I ran my hands through my hair. “I can’t believe you’re saying that. All I do is let you work your magic.”

He chuckled. “Do you really think you don’t do anything?”

“I don’t.” I turned around, and he took me into his arms, kissing my cheek.

“Oh, but you do. You move your body in a way that takes me to heaven every damn time. Wanna have a sleepover tonight?” He kissed my lips softly.

“Hmm. I’m not sure,” I teased him. I certainly did want to have a sleepover with him.

His fingers grazed both of my arms as his lips did the same to my neck. “Please.”

Something inside my tummy fluttered. “Well, since you said please, it would be rude of me to turn you down. But I’ve got to stop by my place before we go to the dinner meeting. It seems I’ve had a little mishap with my panties. Plus, I’d like to take a quick bath to freshen up.”

“A bath sounds good. Do I get an invite to that?” He nibbled my neck again, making arousal spread through me once more.

“How do you do this to me?” I moaned.

“I don’t know, probably the same way you do this to me.” He pulled his mouth off me. His hands ran up and down my arms. “We should get going. I’ll let you go out first, but don’t leave without me. We’ll take a cab to your place and get cleaned up there before heading out to meet Artimus.”

With a nod, I left him and headed down to the lobby, hoping I wouldn’t run into anyone on the way. Freshly fucked, I didn’t know if I’d be able to lie if I saw anyone.

I waited outside for Duke before hailing a cab, slipping into the backseat before he did. He stretched his arm out on the back of the seat then wrapped it around me.

I rested my head on his shoulder. “This feels nice.”

He kissed the top of my head. “To me too, baby.”

“You’re a bad influence on me, Duke. I’ve never been a rebel before. You’ve got me breaking all kinds of rules, you bad boy.” I sighed heavily as I wondered where this would lead. I’d probably end up without a job and be forced to go back to live with my parents in New Mexico if we kept things up.

“Bad boy? I’ve never considered myself to be one of those kinds of guys.” He played with a lock of my hair. “What makes you think that?”

Pulling my head off his shoulder, I looked him in the eyes. “Really? You don’t think breaking a company rule during our first week on the job is rebellious? You don’t think screwing in a bathroom at said company is breaking the rules?”

“When you put it that way, then I guess it does sound like I’m one of those guys. But I’ve only ever been this way with you. Then again, I’ve never been told I couldn’t be with whoever I wanted to be with, either.” He gently pushed me to lay my head back down on his shoulder.

As I lay there, I thought about what he’d said. He’d never been told not to see someone before. Nor had I. Was it only this hot between us because we weren’t supposed to be doing it?

I’d thought it was just him. But maybe there were so many sparks because it was forbidden, not because of any over-the-top chemistry.

If that was the case, this could all just go away. Hell, either of us could get the urge to start something up with someone else at the station, looking for the same high we got with each other.

Suddenly it all felt seedy and dirty. Nothing more than sex that was only thrilling because of the rule that forbade it. But even as I thought that, I felt his hand moving back and forth over my shoulder, rubbing it softly—sweetly, even.

I closed my eyes, feeling a calmness flow through me. If all this turned out to be was hot, forbidden sex, then I’d still take it. I hadn’t ever had anything like this and I’d take it for as long as he’d give it to me.

But I had to pray that someday it would either blossom or burn out completely. Either way, I knew I’d end up losing something—be it my job, or this man who managed to push all the right buttons on my body—I would lose something.

“Do you think it feels this way just because we aren’t supposed to be doing it?” I had to ask him. It didn’t feel right keeping it all to myself.

“I don’t know.” At least he was being honest.

“If I quit and went to work somewhere else, do you think we’d still see each other like this?” I had to know what he thought about that. Because the fact was that if he and I got into a real relationship, one of us would likely have to find another job, and I knew I’d have a better chance of finding one than he did.

He pulled me up to look at him. “Lila, don’t even think about quitting WOLF.” His blue eyes searched mine, as if trying to read my thoughts to see if that’s really what I was thinking.

I wasn’t, it was just a question. “I’m not thinking about that. I’m just wondering if you and I would still have this heat between us if we didn’t have this rule hanging over our heads.”

“That shouldn’t even matter.” He furrowed his dark brow. “Don’t try to analyze this. Just live it. Just take it for what it is right now. Not what it might become, or devolve into. Just be here now, with me, like this.”

Nodding my head, I laid it back down on his shoulder. He was right. I had to stop analyzing things so much. It was what it was, nothing more or less than that.

When we stopped at the bed and breakfast I now called home, we got out and headed up to my room. We heard voices coming from one of the living areas and saw a group of people in there watching television. A few of them waved at us as we passed by.

“So, you guys all hang out together?” Duke asked.

“I haven’t hung out with anyone yet. But it does look like some of the long-term residents do hang out together. I think I’ll like it here, once I get settled in.” We went up the staircase and I led him to my room.

It hardly compared to his spacious apartment, and it felt cramped with both of us inside the small room. “Cozy,” he said as he looked around.

“Yes, it is.” I picked out some clean clothes from the closet and laid them on the bed. “So, I guess I’ll go first.”

He laughed as he shook his head. “We’re going together.”

I opened the door and showed him the claw-footed tub. “Think we can both fit into that?”

He wiggled his brows. “If you get on top of me, we can.”

“In the tub?” I asked. I’d never done anything like that before. I wasn’t sure how it would work.

But Duke was up for the challenge of showing me how, and in no time at all, we were right back at it. And that time was just as amazing as all the others.

I had no idea how long this would last, but I was going to listen to what Duke had said. No analyzing it, just living in the moment. Because the moments with him were better than any of the moments without him.

Chapter Eighteen

Duke

The meeting with Artimus and Mrs. Baker was about putting Lila and me to the test of working together, and the next day we were sent on our first trial run. We had to cover the opening of a burn unit at one of the local hospitals.

The staff of the new unit was gathered at the nurses’ station where Lila and I took turns asking them questions. “And how many patients can you take care of at this new facility, Dr. Stevens?” Lila asked the head surgeon.

“Fifteen. The rooms are all state-of-the-art. We wanted to keep it small enough to be able to give each patient our devoted attention. There are two nurses for each patient, to make sure they’re always taken care of,” he told her.

Lila looked at me, letting me know it was my turn to ask a question. Her cute expression made me want to kiss her, but of course I couldn’t do that. I had tons of willpower; I knew I’d find what I needed to stay professional while working with her.

But I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering back to the events of last night, of how her boobs had jiggled as she rode my cock. I had to come back to reality and leave last night behind me, for now.

“Dr. Stevens, are there any special requirements for admittance?” I asked him.

“Of course,” he said as he nodded. “They’ll have to be in critical condition to be accepted here. Once they’re out of the woods and well into their recovery, then they’ll be moved to the main hospital for the rest of their stay.”

We finished out the report, and the crew headed back to the station to edit the video as Lila and I headed to go eat some lunch. In public, we also had to conduct ourselves professionally, which I found more challenging.

She took the seat across from me at the table for two in the small café we’d decided to try out. I wanted to reach across the table and hold her hand, but didn’t. “Being with you and not touching you is proving to be harder than I thought it would be.”

She nodded. “Yeah, for me too.”

The waitress came to take our orders. “Hey, guys, I’m Tracy, and I’ll be your waitress today. What can I start you two off with?”

“I’ll have a Pepsi,” Lila said. “We saw the special written on the board when we came in, and I’ll have that. Turkey and dressing sound good to me today.”

“Me too. I’ll have what she’s having.” There we were, thinking alike again.

After the waitress left us, Lila asked, “Do you think Artimus will like what we’re sending him?”

I nodded. “I do. I think we covered that well and showed that we work well as a team. I have high hopes about this.”

“If we do get it, then I think we might have to curtail the sex. Not that I don’t enjoy it immensely, but it might make it hard to work together.” She drummed her red fingernails on the table. “No pun intended.” She gave a little smile, though it was sad.

I watched those nails as they clicked against the Formica tabletop and wondered how in the hell she thought we could curtail what we were doing. “You think that’s going to be any easier?”

“Not if we don’t get a hold of ourselves. Do you know that I almost took your hand as we were leaving the unit? We can’t have things like that happening. All this sex we’re having makes me feel too comfortable touching you. I can’t do that at work or even in public, as we talked about on the way over here. We’re about to be faces that everyone will recognize. If we’re seen together in a romantic way, then this will all blow up for us, and that would not end well for us.”

Even though what she said was true, I suppose I just didn’t want to hear it. “So what, are you saying you don’t want to see each other anymore?”

“We’re not really seeing each other, remember? I know it’s more than just messing around; we’ve gone over that before. But come on, it’s just sex. It can’t ever be anything more than that.” She shrugged like it was no big deal to her. “It’s only been a few days since we started doing that anyway. It shouldn’t be that hard to stop and get back to being what we really are to each other.”

I wasn’t about to just let it go at that. “And that is what, exactly?”

“Coworkers.” She looked at me with those gorgeous blue eyes, thick dark lashes blinking slowly at me.

The waitress brought our orders, placing them in front of us. “Here ya go. Will there be anything else?”

I shook my head as Lila said, “No thank you.”

We ate in silence—an awkward silence that didn’t feel good at all. Could we stop having sex, just like that? Was that all we had?

I had to admit to myself that there couldn’t be much more than sex between us right now—she was right on that—regardless of what we wanted. And how fair was that to Lila, a young woman who deserved to be taken out on dates, to have her hand held while strolling through the park, to be kissed in public?

And I was selling myself short too. I wanted to be able to hold her hand, to run my arm around her or kiss her whenever I wanted without fear of losing my damn job.

Did that mean I had true feelings for her?

“What if we went to Artimus and came clean?” I asked her.

She eyed me as she took a drink of her Pepsi before saying, “Here’s what I think would happen if we did that. We’d both lose our jobs before they even really started. I’d have to go live with my parents, and this would end anyway.”

“Well, that’s pretty cut and dry, isn’t it?” I went back to eating the food, hardly tasting a thing. But I wasn’t the kind of person who wasted anything, so I finished it.

But I did notice that for all the tough words that were coming out of Lila’s mouth, she pushed the food around her plate without eating much at all. “This doesn’t taste as great as I thought it would.”

“Perhaps the topic of conversation has more to do with that than the actual food.” I wiped my mouth with the napkin before putting it on my empty plate.

“You didn’t seem to have any problem finishing your meal.” She put her fork down, not even trying to eat anymore.

“I have a strict rule about not wasting anything. Mom instilled that in me from a young age.” I sat back, looking at her.

Would I be able to look at that face nearly every day and not want her?

If it were just sex, then maybe this need I felt for her would fade away soon. It had only been a few days, after all. Not enough time to get addicted to her.

Right?

Lila looked at the floor, zoning out. “I guess we shouldn’t have acted on things so quickly. We didn’t think this through. We’ve just been like a couple of horny teenagers, acting on the attraction and not thinking about what would happen if we actually had to work together on a daily basis. Not thinking about how we’d be able to hide what we’re doing from everyone.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t want to stop what we were doing, but I did realize that carrying on the way we’d been would only make it more difficult to keep our hands off one another.

But what if we could rein that in?

All it would take was determination, and I had tons of that. “I don’t want this to end, and I don’t think you do either. Not really. We knew we’d have to hide it—we knew we’d have to get some self-control.”

Her eyes slowly moved from staring at the floor to looking at me. “But it’s so much harder than I thought. I don’t know how else to get myself under control, other than breaking things off. Even now, all I want to do is crawl into your lap and let you hold me. Like some kind of addict, I crave your touch. It’s not healthy, you know?”

“It would be if we didn’t have to hide this.” My fingers moved across the table, barely touching hers as her hand lay on the table. “Let me talk to Artimus.”

“No. I don’t want either of us to lose our jobs.” She shook her head adamantly.

“I don’t want to lose you.” My eyes held hers, hoping against hope that we could find a way to keep seeing each other. “I can keep my hands to myself. I’ve proven that already. Hell, I wanted to put my hands on you the moment I met you, and I was able to hold myself back when I had to. I can keep it all together while we’re working and while we’re in public. I can.”

“But can I?” She looked away.

“You said it yourself—we’ve only been together for a few days. We just have to make some adjustments, that’s all. We’ll get used to it. There’s no reason to stop doing what we’re doing.” I put my hands into my pockets to keep them from straying to her the way they wanted to do.

“I don’t want to stop what we’ve started, but it’s only sex, Duke. It’s only that, and it will always only be that. I’ve lied to myself, thinking it could blossom into something more, something real.” She let out a long sigh, looking forlorn and sad.

“I don’t see why you keep saying it’s just sex. I care about you, Lila. Do you care about me at all?” I asked her.

“Of course I do.” She rubbed her forehead as if the conversation was giving her a headache.

“Then stop talking the way you are. Let things progress. We can do this. I know we can. And stop saying this is just sex, because we both know it’s more than that.” I got up to leave, hoping she’d follow. I had the feeling she needed to be held for a while. “Let’s go to my place. Not to have sex, either. To watch a movie together, share some popcorn, and maybe a couple of beers too. Then I’ll take you home and we’ll kiss goodnight, but nothing more than that. I want to show you that I think more of you than what you clearly assume I do.”

“A secret date?” she asked as she looked up at me.

I pulled out her chair. “Can we just call it a date and leave the secret out of it?”

“I suppose so. Can we really just hang out together without doing the horizontal mambo?” She seemed skeptical.

I nodded. “I’m going to show you that we can do more together than just bump uglies.”

The cab ride to my place didn’t take long, and I saw a smile fill her face once we got inside my apartment and I didn’t press her up against the door immediately. That seemed to be our usual routine every time we were alone—up against the wall, our mouths fused together within seconds.

Pointing to the sofa, I said, “You turn on the television and pick out a movie. I’ll grab us a couple of beers. Take your shoes off and relax. I’ll be right back.”

Going to the kitchen, I stood there for a moment to ground myself.

No sex, just show the girl a nice time. Show her that you care and that this is worth saving.

Chapter Nineteen

Lila

Duke was true to his word. We cuddled on the sofa, watching an action movie and sipping on a couple of beers while munching on popcorn. He took me home, kissing me at the front door of the bed and breakfast. It did feel like a real date, and it gave us the chance to get to know one another a little better.

I learned that he was the oldest of three children. He had a younger brother named Jake, and the baby of their family was a girl named Jana. His parents had been married since college, and they lived in a small town in Louisiana called Denim Springs. He’d gone to LSU, majoring in journalism, though football had always been his top priority.

Duke had had only one goal in college, and that was to get on a professional football team. He’d achieved that goal, being drafted as soon as he graduated.

He’d been in New York since he was my age, 22. Ten years, he’d been in this city, and he had no intentions of leaving it anytime soon. Though he did say that he’d like to get a house someday, with a yard, in a nice neighborhood, and stop living the apartment life.

He’d like to have backyard barbeques, and he’d get a dog too, he said. He’d had one when he was growing up. Spike had been the only dog their family had ever owned, but he’d lived to be fifteen years old—pretty old for a dog, according to Duke. The mutt had been a great protector, and Duke missed him a lot at times.

I let Duke in on some of my life too. Told him about my family and how my parents had been married young, just out of high school. Dad went to college while Mom went to work as a secretary for her father’s firm. When they were 25, they had Lonnie, my brother. A few years later they had twins, me and my sister, Lilly.

Duke asked me if we were identical twins, and when I told him we were, he asked if we looked exactly alike now. To which I also said yes, and he seemed much too intrigued by that. I gave him a jealous little pout and he laughed at me for being worried about that.

Even though the night was great, it didn’t fix a damn thing. We still had to hide things from everyone.

Nina and I had met up to eat lunch the day after our “first date,” as Duke called it. I was bouncing some things off her to see where they landed. “If you worked in a place that didn’t have this strict no-dating policy, do you think it would okay to have a relationship with someone you work with?” I asked her.

Chewing on her slice of pepperoni pizza, she pondered the question before answering. “I’ve actually been thinking about that lately, and no. I don’t think it’s okay to date someone you work with. Not for any moral or ethical reasons, but because the eventual breakup would make things difficult in the end. Or even think about the occasional arguments that all couples have—those are definitely not a thing I’d want to force my coworkers to deal with.”

I hadn’t really thought about those things. If Duke and I were in a relationship and had an argument about something, we probably wouldn’t be able to do a very good job as co-anchors. And what about if we ever did break up? That would make it incredibly hard to sit next to him every day.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agreed as I dipped one of my fries in some ketchup.

Nina’s eyes went into a dreamy state. “But it is hard not to notice your coworkers sometimes. How handsome they are. How nice they are. How perfect for you they’d be if you didn’t work at the same place.”

“Hmm, sounds like you’re speaking from experience. Are you?” I asked.

She nodded. “I had a job when I was in high school. A fast food place with a hot manager who had the hots for me, too. It was cool for a while. I’d do my job, he’d do his. And every so often, after closing, of course, we’d get naked and nasty in his office, on his little desk.”

“Was he a lot older than you, Nina?” I had to ask because he was her manager, after all, and she’d said she’d been in high school.

“Only by a year. Fast food places almost always have kids who are fresh out of high school in managerial positions. The pay sucks, and not many grown adults can make a living doing it.” She sighed, and I imagined she must be picturing the guy in her head. “I thought we were in love, Paul and me. But one day Paul hired Martha Stone. Martha had bigger tits than I did, and she had a bit of a slutty side to her that Paul liked. One day I found them in the walk-in cooler together, making out.”

“Crap.” I thought about how I’d react right now if I saw Duke kissing another woman. I’d probably have a meltdown.

That thought told me I was in deeper than I was allowing myself to believe. You couldn’t be jealous if you didn’t have feelings for someone.

“When I saw them together, he ran after me, trying to explain things. I stopped to see what he had to say to me, but all he said was that I needed to be mature about things. And that we were over, and he was going to be with Martha.” She shook her head as if shaking away the terrible memory.

“And so work became awkward, huh?” I dunked another fry into the ketchup then popped it into my mouth.

“Awkward, infuriating, you name it. Paul was careful not to put Martha and me on the same shift. And I turned into a groveling little idiot who’d constantly go to him and beg him to take me back and get rid of her. I loathed myself, to say the least.” She took a big bite of her pizza.

Groveling too? Shit!

Would I stoop to that if it I had to see Duke with someone else?

I hoped I wouldn’t, but who can predict the things you’ll do until it happens to you?

My one serious boyfriend and I had ended things amicably. There had been no spark at all. When he’d told me he thought we’d make better friends than lovers, I was surprised that it didn’t hurt. I’d agreed with him, and that was that. No hard feelings. But that was because there were no real feelings anyway.

I knew I had feelings for Duke. That was part of the reason I thought we should end the things before they could get more serious. But after spending a very romantic evening with him, learning more about him than simply how fast he liked his cock to be ridden, I found I couldn’t just stop what was happening between us.

The café was near the station and Artimus came in, followed by Ashton and Duke. All three waved at us then headed to sit on the other side of the place. Then in walked the receptionist for the main lobby. She went to sit with the men.

Nina and I watched her shake her ass as she went to sit down, taking the seat to the right of Duke. Her eyes raked over him, taking him in as he sat there in a dark brown suit that made him look a little too damn good.

“What the hell is going on there?” Nina asked. “Why would those three have Gretchen with them? Like, ever?”

My jaw was clenched tightly, and my teeth squeaked as I ground them together. There was that jealousy again.

Duke wasn’t looking at me. He wasn’t looking at Gretchen, either, but why was he avoiding me?

Was this how it was going to be with us? In the same room, pretending the other didn’t matter at all?

And what was with him having lunch with other women, anyway? Was that allowed in what we were doing?

I mean, I knew we hadn’t made a commitment to each other. Nothing had ever been said about not dating anyone else. Not that Duke was on a date with the bimbo, but what was he doing, eating at a table with another woman?

And why did I care so much? Jealousy wasn’t an emotion I was accustomed to, but I couldn’t stop myself from getting angry—no matter how irrational I knew I was being. Men and women could have lunch together without it being a big deal.

But at the same time, I had to ask, how would he like it if he found me eating with some guy?

He’d hate it. I knew that for sure. So why was he doing it?

I decided to give the man a chance to explain things to me, and excused myself to go to the ladies’ room. My eyes were on him the whole time I walked toward their table. But he never looked at me.

I knew he could feel me staring a hole in him, so what the hell was he doing?

My heels clicked across the floor as I passed the table, and finally he looked at me. “Hi, Miss Banks.”

My jaw still clenched, I held up a hand to wave hello to him and the other men. I looked toward the bathroom, hoping he’d understand that I wanted him to come back there so we could talk.

The bathrooms were located behind a wall, and that would give us some privacy. I waited in the hallway for several minutes, but he never came. Peeking around the corner to see what the hell he was doing, I found he was still sitting there.

My hands balled into fists at my sides as I headed back to my table. On the way back, Duke ignored me again. When I sat down, I found Nina looking a little bit pissed, too.

She was glaring at the back of Gretchen’s head. “I haven’t liked that girl since I first met her.”

“I hadn’t even noticed her, to be honest. But now that she’s sitting there with those three men, she’s awfully animated, isn’t she?” I watched her lean over to put her purse on the floor in an over-the-top move that put her cleavage on full display for anyone interested in taking a gander.

My eyes were trained on Duke’s to see if he’d take that bait. Thankfully, he didn’t, and his eyes stayed on Ashton as the two spoke about something. But Artimus was watching her. And he didn’t look at all happy about what she was doing.

I began to wonder if she was a relative of his or something, because she was the only member of the staff who didn’t seem to be taking the sexual harassment course seriously. Did she think she could do anything she wanted because she was the boss’s niece or something?

If she was a relative of his, then I could see Artimus inviting her to join them for lunch. If not, then I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t imagine she’d had a chance to become friends with any one of them so far.

Nina’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Ashton. “I’ve got to go. I have an appointment with the doctor.”

“Are you okay?” I asked her, because she seemed to be fine to me.

“Yeah, just getting my yearly lady inspection out of the way.” She cut her eyes at me. “Hey, have you found yourself a gyno in the city yet?”

Shaking my head, I answered, “No, not yet.”

“If you’re not busy, you should come with me. My doctor is the best, and I think she’s taking new patients right now. She also takes the insurance we have. The co-pay is cheap.”

I decided to take her up on the invitation. My birth control prescription would be running out in a month anyway, so the sooner I found a new doctor, the better. I could set up an appointment and fill out the new patient paperwork while I waited for her.

Nina just kept on proving to be a great friend.

But what was Duke proving to be? That was the real question.

Chapter Twenty

Duke

Lila had just disappeared on me after lunch. We still hadn’t gotten each other’s cell numbers for some reason, and I was regretting that again. I didn’t like the fact that I’d had to act like she was nothing more to me than some coworker in front of the people I’d been out for lunch with. But we’d been there on a mission, and I couldn’t get diverted by anything.

Earlier that same day, Artimus had caught Gretchen acting in a way he didn’t approve of. Not only was she hitting on me, but she was hitting on Ashton, too. So Artimus had set up a little trap, with witnesses to catch her in the act.

He’d sent in a group from human resources first, before we’d headed to the café for lunch. He’d invited Gretchen to join us just as we were leaving the building. Of course, she’d hurried to come with us.

At lunch, she’d tried every trick in the book to get at least one of us to look at her. Being as there were three of us, she didn’t quite know who to target with her advances, so we’d decided that two of us would leave one man alone with her for short periods of time. Just as we’d expected, the flirting had started as soon as the others had left.

Artimus and Ashton had excused themselves to make phone calls, leaving me and Gretchen alone at the table. I was sure to keep myself distant, not wanting anyone to interpret my actions for interest in her.

Gretchen was sitting to the right of me, and she leaned in to whisper in my ear. “Maybe you and I could do dinner later, Duke. I’m enjoying spending time with you; maybe we should keep things going. What do you say?”

I wanted to tell her that I needed her to say that shit a little louder. But I couldn’t do that. So I repeated what she said, to let the covert ears that were listening in on things know what was up. “Gretchen, are you asking me out on a dinner date?”

She nodded. “Yeah. No one has to know, Duke. I can keep it quiet.” She made a sexy little giggling sound. “But I can be loud when you want me to be, also. If you know what I mean.”

I knew what she meant, and so did the table of people beside us, all of whom had frowns on their faces. I had to make things clear to the aggressive woman, “Gretchen, that’s very inappropriate. Do you realize that?”

She laughed and reached out to touch my hand, which I’d left resting on the table just to see if she’d go that far. I moved it so that she couldn’t touch it and she smiled. “Oh, I see. You don’t want anyone to see. I get it. So, how about we just meet at some place, maybe a dark nightclub, or my place? My roomies won’t speak a word of what I do to anyone. You don’t have to worry about that, Duke.”

“I’m not going to do any of that, Gretchen. And you really should care more about your job than that. You know Artimus has a no dating policy.” I leaned back in my chair as I saw Ashton coming back. “I think I need to excuse myself for a moment.”

As I got up, she made one more comment. “Why, have I got you all hot and bothered? Got a hard-on you need to rub out from our convo?”

She was a real winner, that was for sure. And dealing with her unwanted advances and lewd comments had me feeling a hell of a lot of empathy for what many women had been dealing with for far too long.

Fuck, if I’d heard a man say anything like that to my little sister, he’d have gotten clocked right in the jaw.

By the end of our little mission, Gretchen had said inappropriate things to each one of us—even the boss, the fucking idiot!

Artimus wasn’t an asshole, so he waited to let her know she was fired until we got back to the station. The group of human resource workers came in right behind us, letting her know they needed to see her in their office right away.

I wanted to tell Lila all about it but couldn’t, since I couldn’t find her anywhere. I half expected her to show up at my apartment later that evening, but she didn’t. And when she didn’t, I figured I shouldn’t show up at her place either.

The next morning, I woke up to a message on my phone. It was from Mrs. Baker, telling me I needed to be in Artimus’ office by nine that morning. Putting on a suit, I headed to see the boss and hoped I’d be hearing some good news.

As soon as I stepped off the elevator, I saw Lila waiting. She was sitting in a chair, her long legs crossed as she flipped through a magazine. She had on a dress that hit her just below the knee—red with large black flowers all over it. As always, her lipstick and nails matched it perfectly.

I had no idea how many shades of lipstick, blush, and nail polish the girl had, but I had to guess it was a hell of a lot. She looked up at me to say a very quick hello, then went right back to looking at the magazine, her leg now swinging back and forth, and I could tell she was a bit aggravated by something.

I took a seat next to her. “Hey, what’s up?” I whispered, “I missed you yesterday.”

Without even looking up, she said, “I don’t see how. You seemed to be occupied enough with that bimbo.”

Ah, jealousy!

“Are you talking about the receptionist?” I waited for her answer as her leg started swinging even faster. The jealousy was cute, and it only let me know she was falling hard for me.

“Of course I am.” She finally looked at me. “I had no idea she behaved that way around the men here. What were you thinking, going to lunch with a woman like that? Did you honestly think I wouldn’t get upset with you for doing that?”

Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and it swung around to fall over her shoulder as she jerked her head in agitation. “I wanted to talk to you after lunch was over, but you disappeared.”

“Oh, yeah? After it was over? Hmm.” She tapped her chin. “Was that because she picked one of the other men and not you?”

I had to laugh, and knew I’d better hurry up and fill her in on everything. So I did just that, telling her the whole thing as fast as I could before we were called into our boss’s office.

The anger in her eyes subsided, and she actually looked sympathetic. “Oh, I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Duke. I really am. And I’m sorry for acting so jealous.” She sighed and shook her head. “Not in a million years did I think a woman would be the first to break the no dating, no sexual harassment rule.”

Even though she looked relieved, she also looked a bit worried. “What are you thinking? Do you feel like that says a lot about what would happen to us if we were ever found out?”

She nodded. “I do.”

“Well, I don’t. That was sexual harassment, plain and simple. She’d been told by each one of us that we weren’t into her, and she went on anyway. That’s harassment. There’s no harassment between us.” I patted her on the shoulder. “Try not to worry, please. I will make things right. I promise you I will.”

“You better not quit,” she warned me. “I’ll be really mad at you if you do that just to keep seeing me. I’d most likely get fired even if you did quit, anyways. Artimus would know we’d had something going on while you were still an employee.”

She was right. But I wasn’t going to quit, not if I didn’t have to. I had other ideas rolling through my brain. But all of those ideas would have to wait until some time had passed. Artimus wouldn’t budge on that rule just yet, and I knew that.

The door to his office opened, and Mrs. Baker waved us in. “He’s ready for you two now.”

“Both of us?” I asked, hoping that meant good news.

She nodded. “Yes, come on.”

Lila walked into the office just in front of me. Two chairs were sitting in front of Artimus’s desk, and we each took a seat. “Good morning, you two,” he greeted us. “I’ve got the results from our surveys and would like to share them with you this morning.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Lila must’ve been holding her breath, her chest not moving at all. I felt pretty confident we were going to get our way, but still had a few nerves about it.

Mrs. Baker took two folders out of a desk drawer. “Here are the folders that have the paperwork for the new jobs you’ve both earned.” She pushed one to me and one to Lila, a big smile on her face. “Congratulations, you’re both our new co-anchor on WOLF Morning News.”

Lila and I looked at each other, and then we both jumped up and hugged as we laughed. “We got it!” Lila shouted.

“No one had to lose!” I shouted right back.

Then the sound of throats clearing could be heard, and we ended our little celebration. Artimus and Mrs. Baker both wore frowns. He shook his finger at us. “No physical contact, guys.”

“Oh, yeah.” I looked at Lila. “Sorry about that, Lila. I guess the excitement got to me. I’m just so glad no one had to lose. And I’m excited to get to work with you.”

She nodded. “Me too, Duke. And I’m sorry too.” She looked at our boss. “And to both of you. Sorry about that.”

I nodded at our bosses. “Yeah, me too.”

This shit was going too far in my opinion, but I wasn’t the boss.

“Come on, let me show you both to your offices,” Mrs. Baker said as she led us out.

We walked down the long hallway, all the way to the very end. The door on the left had my name engraved on a gold nameplate, and the one right across the hall had Lila’s name engraved on it. “Oh my God,” Lila murmured, “this is really happening!”

Mrs. Baker handed us each a card with our pictures on them. “You’ll use these cards to slide through the locking system to get inside your offices. So keep them with you at all times. The doors lock on their own once they’re closed.”

We were close to my door, so I opened it, and all three of us went inside. “This is out of this world,” I mumbled as I looked around the large corner office. I pointed at the two doors that were inside. “And those are?”

Mrs. Baker smiled. “A walk-in closet and a private bathroom, complete with a shower. You’ll both need to be here at four every weekday morning. We’ll need you to be ready by six to start the newscasts, which will go until eight. And of course, you’ll both have your evening and nighttime slots too. We’ll need you in hair and makeup two hours before those newscasts begin. Things are about to get very busy for you.”

I could see that. “Lila, let’s go see your office.”

She was excited, and we headed out to check out the office across the hallway. She ran her card through the lock then opened the door to find another corner office just like mine. “I can’t believe this!”

“Believe it, both of you.” Mrs. Baker made her way out the door, leaving us to ourselves. “I’ve got more to attend to this morning. There’s so much to do with the network going live in only a few days.”

The door closed behind her as she left us. Lila looked at me with shimmering eyes. “We did it, Duke. We got what we wanted.”

“We did.” I had to use all my willpower not to grab her and hold her tight. “How about we celebrate with dinner at my place?”

She nodded. “I’d like that very much. Your place it is. Rehearsals will start tomorrow, so we’d better get to bed early.”

“I’m with you there.” I gave her a sexy smile. “Things will work out, you’ll see.”

I prayed I was right.

Chapter Twenty-One

Lila

Plates of lasagna were left on the table, the salads wilting, the glasses of red wine almost untouched. I couldn’t seem to help myself after watching Duke cook for me. He had on a black apron to keep his clothes clean. So manly, yet so domestic too. It proved too much for me, and I wrapped myself around the man after he’d served the meal, placing each thing on the table just so, before he took a seat.

Looking up at him, I whispered, “You’ve made an excellent meal that looks delicious, but you’ve also turned me into a hot mess. I can hardly sit still, I want you so bad.”

He looked at me for a long moment, I suppose trying to see if I was being serious or not. The smolder in my eyes as I ran my hands over his muscular back must’ve let him know I wasn’t fooling around. “Well, look at you, baby.” His hand slid down my arm, linking his hand with mine before he led me away from the dining area to his bedroom.

My body quivered as he undressed me slowly. I don’t know how he did it, but he’d made me wet for him just from watching him cook. He slicked his fingers through my cunt, finding it wet and warm. “Hmm. How did this happen so fast?”

“It didn’t happen fast; it happened over the course of an hour spent watching you so carefully prepare a meal for us. And I wish I could’ve thought about eating that meal, but all I could really think about was sucking your cock and letting your cum fill my stomach.”

“Shit!” His eyes darted back and forth. “Who are you? Where’d my little Lila go?”

I wasn’t sure what exactly had turned me into this raving vixen set on taking my man to new heights, but a switch had been flipped. Maybe it was the great news that we’d gotten today, or maybe it was the fact that Duke could cook—I didn’t know or care, really. I just wanted his dick in my mouth.

It was my turn to take his clothes off, which I did a bit more hastily than he had. But he didn’t seem to mind. And when I pushed his broad shoulders to get him to sit on the edge of the bed, and then got on my knees in front of him, he really didn’t seem to mind.

I licked the entire length of his long hard cock. The girth was always a bit of a challenge, but it was one I thoroughly enjoyed. I moved my mouth over the tip, stretching my jaw as far as I could before moving his cock all the way in.

The groan he made elated me. I loved the effect I had on him and enjoyed hearing the sounds he made, which told me more than words ever could.

The softness of his skin, the hardness just underneath it, and the taste of him all combined to make this act an experience we mutually enjoyed. As far as sex went, we were unstoppable. We could make each other do things neither had ever done before.

And I’d had a great time just hanging out with Duke, too. The fact that things were progressing so well only served to make me feel worse about work. I’d gotten my dream job, and I might lose it because I’d developed feelings for my coworker.

But for now, I wasn’t going to allow myself to worry about that. For now, I was going to lose myself in the man who filled my thoughts, captivated my attention, and held my heart in the palm of his hand. Though I hadn’t told him yet just how much of me he had. I didn’t want to burden him with that knowledge, just in case we had to end this to keep our jobs.

The taste of him in my mouth changed a little as I felt a bit of pre-cum leak out of the tip of his cock. As I licked the tip over and over, moving my hands up and down his hard dick, he spewed into my mouth. I didn’t think it was possible to be any more turned on, but the fantastic growl that accompanied his orgasm did just that.

“Baby, fuck! Ah!!!”

Now that’s what I like to hear!

Pulling my head up, I released him and wiped my lips with one hand. “Yummy.”

He was panting, but the look in his eyes told me he wasn’t close to finished with me. “On your back. Now.”

Hurrying to do as he said, I climbed onto the bed and got into the position he’d demanded. He buried his face in my cunt, using the flat part of his tongue to lick me over and over again. “Duke!”

I ran my hands through his hair, loving its silkiness and the way it moved between my fingers. He turned his attention to my clit, tapping it with the sharp point of his tongue.

His hands kneaded my outer thighs as he ate me. I began to squirm as my body erupted into several explosions that had me screaming his name, “Duke! Yes!”

He pulled his mouth off me and flipped me onto my stomach, lying on top of me and grabbing hold of my hands, stretching them above our heads as he entered my pulsing cunt. His breath was hot in my ear as he began to move—his body rubbing over my ass felt unreal. With each thrust he made, my body moved over the bed, rubbing my swollen clit. I felt surrounded my sensation, and I could do little more than lie there and take it. Nibbling on my ear as he fucked me, he took me to another orgasm very quickly.

But he wasn’t done yet, pulling out and turning me over before making me sit me up. He moved around, rocking his body back on his heels before pulling me to sit on his cock, facing him. He rocked us back and forth, taking the connection even deeper as we looked at one another.

“You’re so beautiful, Lila.” He kissed my neck, sending shivers down my spine.

All I could do was moan, too out of my head from sensation to even say a word. My body was on fire, my insides molten lava, and my brain was all wrapped up in that.

He rocked us until I came again, and he came along with me. Our combined sounds filled the air along with the sound of panting.

It was beautiful.

And when he laid me back then laid right next to me on his side, looking down at me as he rested his gorgeous head on the palm of his hand, I was mesmerized.

His eyes were sparkling, his grin lopsided, his face still glowing from the orgasm. He trailed one finger along my collarbone. “I love seeing you like this in my bed, baby.”

“I love being like this in this bed too, babe.” I took his finger and kissed the tip of it. “What you do always amazes me.”

“It’s you who’s amazing.” He leaned over, letting his lips just barely graze mine. “You taste like heaven. I can’t seem to get my fill of you, girl.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

The chuckle he made sent his warm breath all over my face. He pulled back to gaze at me some more. “I hope it’s a good thing. It means I’d like to keep you around for a while. Don’t you see that as a good thing?”

“I should, shouldn’t I?” I closed my eyes. “If we didn’t have these work rules hanging over our heads it would feel so much better.”

“Hush, no talking about that. I’m still riding the high you’ve given me. Let’s not think about that for a while.” He kissed me again, this time letting his lips settle fully on mine.

I’d thought I was spent, but my body started perking back up as our mouths took us further. He pulled back, leaving me wondering what he was doing now.

He blinked a few times before he said, “I want you to stay the nights with me. My place is a good thirty minutes closer to the station than yours is. You could stay the nights here and give yourself at least a little bit more time to sleep each morning. Our mornings are going to be pretty hard, at least at first.”

He was right. I knew getting up that early was going to be a chore. But could I really stay with Duke every night before going in to work, where I’d have to pretend he was nothing to me?

That would be five nights out of each week. That was more nights than I’d spend at my own place—we’d practically be living together. “I don’t know, Duke. I mean, that’s nice of you, but that’s moving things a bit too fast for me.”

“I’m not asking you to marry me, Lila.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s just an invitation to allow you to get more sleep than you would if you stayed at your place. That’s all it is.”

“I suppose you think I’m being silly about this. The obvious answer would be yes, but we have other things to consider as well. Like the fact we’d be showing up together each morning. What would people say about that?” I thought I’d stumped him.

But he only shook his head. “People share cabs all the time here in New York. So that won’t matter a bit. No one would blink an eye at that, I promise you that. It’s actually considered the responsible thing to do.”

“You don’t think anyone would put two and two together?” I pondered the idea as he shook his head.

The extra sleep would be nice. Sleeping the night away in his arms might prove to be refreshing too. But I still had a little bit of worry that we’d get found out.

“If you’re afraid that I’ll keep you up all night long, don’t be.” He gave me a wink and a naughty smile. “I think when we get home on the nights we work I’ll only give you one orgasm, so that we can get some restful sleep. And then on the weekends, we’ll catch up on those other orgasms we missed out on.” He laughed, and I had to laugh too.

“Wow, glad you could work that all out for us. And it does sound nice. But it also sounds a little too much like we’d be living together. It’s just too soon for that.” I tapped my chin as I thought about a compromise.

“So tell me what kind of plan you can come up with. I think mine’s the best, just so you know.” He kissed the soft spot just behind my ear to punctuate his sentence.

“I know you do, Duke. But I’ve got to maintain my independence.” I’d come to a conclusion and hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed with it. “How about three nights a week? Sunday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night?”

“I’ll take it!” He kissed me again to seal the deal.

Now I just had to hope that we could pull it all off without getting caught.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Duke

Having Lila in my bed the whole night, getting to wake up to see her pretty face, and sharing a not-so-quick shower had me on cloud nine the next morning as we headed to work.

In the backseat of the cab, I couldn’t seem to keep my hands or lips off her. “This morning’s shower was hands down the best one I’ve ever had.”

Her smile was on the shy side, which I found adorable. Especially considering how not shy she’d been just an hour earlier. “Duke, hush now. The driver is going to hear you.” Her cheeks went pink, and I had to kiss one of them.

Whispering in her ear, I nibbled on her earlobe. “I doubt he’s paying close enough attention to hear anything, or repeat it. And I also wanted to tell you that the scent of my shampoo on your hair is driving me insane this morning.”

Lila’s blue eyes went huge, and her mouth gaped. “Oh, no! Do you think anyone else will notice that we smell alike?”

“That shampoo is for sale at most stores in the United States, honey. I don’t think anyone will think that you and I smell the same because we took a shower together this morning after having unimaginably great sex last night.” Her imagination was stupefying.

“I hope you’re right.” She shook her head, sending the smell all through the stale air of the cab, making it smell a hell of a lot better. “If anyone makes a comment about it, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Her honesty might prove to be a problem.

“I’ve got an idea to help hide the smell. Can I braid your hair?” I offered the suggestion. “That might keep the scent under wraps.” I chuckled at my joke. “Wraps? Get it?”

She pulled a rubber band out of her purse. “Do it. I don’t want anyone to have the chance to think we smell alike.”

I liked the fact we smelled alike. It meant she’d been with me all night long. And what a night it had been—full of some scorching hot sex, which had continued once we woke up. But I saw her point.

Her blonde hair felt like silk as I moved it between my fingers to braid the three pieces together. The sensation left me wanting to feel more of her. Once I’d tied the end of the braid off, I ran my hands over her shoulders then nuzzled her neck. “There, feel better, baby?” I kissed my way up her long, newly exposed neck that just begged me to nibble and suck on it.

She moaned as her hand came back to run around to the back of my head. “Baby …”

Moving to the other side to make sure that one didn’t feel left out, I kissed and nipped my way up and down it. “I can’t get enough of you.”

And I meant that. I just couldn’t get enough of Lila to satisfy the hunger I had raging deep inside of me. The way her smooth, soft skin felt as I ran my hands up and down her slender arms felt so damn good.

How does one woman’s skin feel so different under my palms than any others ever has?

It was a mystery, but not one I’d ever try to solve. I liked the magical aspect of our connection. It was invigorating, stimulating, and just plain old great.

I must’ve sucked a little too hard because she stopped me. “Don’t leave any marks on places people can see. I already have a hickey on my ass cheek that you put there last night.”

“You’ve got one just underneath your left boob too,” I informed her. “I made it this morning while we were in the shower.”

She rolled her eyes. “Great.” Sarcasm etched her voice.

“It is great.” I patted myself on the back.

“How is that exactly, babe?” She looked genuinely bewildered.

So, I filled her in on the art of hickeys and why they’d come to be. “Hickeys are a calling card to other guys. If he’s with a girl and she’s got even one of them, especially in an intimate area, then he knows she’s got another guy. It makes her less attractive. Well, most of the time it does, anyway. You do have your jackasses who get off on stealing other men’s women.”

“Oh, come on, what about if a woman just going through a little wild phase? Who knew you’d be so prudish about casual sex.” She gave me a mock severe look before focusing on what mattered. “And are you saying that you’ve marked me on purpose?” Her eyes went wide with what seemed to be concern.

“Not exactly on purpose,” I stammered as I tried to curtail an argument that could get me into hot water. “You see, it’s kind of like I couldn’t control myself.”

Those baby blues of hers rolled once more. “Oh, really? You, Duke Cofield, can’t control yourself?”

“Not with you, I can’t.” Smoothing out her silk shirt, I made sure she could get out of the cab looking untouched. With her hair in a tight braid, I couldn’t smell the scent of my shampoo on her, but her clothes had gotten a bit disheveled from my attentions.

“Well, that will be a problem, won’t it?” She looked kind of miffed.

I had to let her know what I really meant, and fast. “When we’re alone, baby. Not when we’re in public or at work. Haven’t I demonstrated that to you already?”

With a sigh, she gave in. “Well, yes, you have shown me that you can control yourself when you have to. But just be careful not to leave any visible marks on me. I don’t care to try to make up a lie as to why I have them, or try to come up with who gave them to me.”

A smirk ran over my lips. “Well, if anyone did see marks on you then they’d know you were taken. That wouldn’t be such a bad thing, in my opinion.”

She blinked a couple of times. “Taken?” Her expression was soft and sweet. It was as if she had barely realized that she was indeed taken. “Am I taken, Duke?”

I wasn’t about to share her with anyone. But I suppose I hadn’t made that clear to her yet. But then again, other than the couple of times she’d clearly been jealous, she hadn’t made it clear to me either. “Am I?” I turned the question around on her.

Lila cocked her head to the right as if she had to think about that. Finally, a smile curved her pink lips. “I’d like to think you are taken.”

“And I’d like to think the same thing about you, Lila Banks.” I leaned in for a kiss.

Her mouth was supple, her lips parting to allow me in. And with that kiss, we made it official. We were both taken by each other. No other person could come between us. The only real obstacle was our jobs.

Damn that rule!

Rules or not, the commitment—though small—appeared to have gotten her all hot for me again. Her hands moved up and down my back underneath my suit jacket. Her mouth took the kiss from sweet to hungry very quickly.

Pulling her as close to me as we could possibly get, I felt her breasts smash against my chest. It made my cock spring to life. Now I had a hard-on and was thanking God for the jacket that would cover it.

I knew I couldn’t get her to blow me in the back of a cab. She was too much of a good girl to even ask that of her—but boy, could I dream.

Her mouth left mine to kiss my neck. Her hot breath stirred the fine hairs, making me itch for more. “Duke, you have no idea how hot I am for you right now.”

Moving one hand under her shirt, I gripped her tit. “Me too, baby. Me too. Damn, I wish we were home right now. I’d strip you down and take you wherever we were. I should’ve brought this conversation up much earlier. I had no idea the reaction you’d give me.”

“I had no idea I’d react this way.” She bit my neck then licked the spot. “God, you taste so fucking good.”

I was missing out on some hot sex and knew it. Once Lila started cussing, it was on—she’d do anything and get wilder than any woman I’d ever been with. If we’d been alone, I would’ve been in for a treat.

I prayed we could put a pause on this and get right back to this place once we got back home. Work was a necessary evil that seemed to be coming between us more than I’d ever known it would.

Lila had cautioned me only moments before about leaving marks where people could see them, but there she was, sucking the shit out of my neck. “Lila, baby, you’ve got to stop.” I didn’t want her to, but I couldn’t have anything on me either.

Not that I couldn’t come up with a lie about them. I just didn’t want anyone thinking I was some kind of a player who messed around with tons of women. I wanted the good guy rep, and I wanted people to see me as trustworthy, too. And when the time came, I wanted people to think Lila had herself a good man.

She eased up on the sucking and kissed her way back to my mouth. One last kiss before our day had to begin. That was all we had left. We were getting close.

I found myself wishing we’d stayed at her place instead of mine. We would’ve had more time in the cab if we had done that. But like all good things, this must come to an end.

Although it was a premature ending with no climaxes, it was what it had to be.

Lila managed to pull herself away from me, huffing and puffing as she did. “Damn, I wish we were back at either of our places instead of in a cab heading to work.” She buttoned the top few buttons of her blouse, which I’d somehow undone without even realizing it.

“At least I didn’t mess your hair up any. Thank goodness for that braid.” I tucked my shirt in, as she’d untucked it when she was running her hands all over my back, a thing she loved to do.

Getting fixed back up, I found her frowning. “I kind of hate this.”

“Well, don’t,” I offered my advice. “In the reality of life, one has to go to work to keep a roof over one’s head. No one can lie in a bed with their lover, having sex all the time, leaving work out of it. What’s that line, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy?”

She laughed. “Um, I don’t think you thought that one all the way through. What does all play, and no work make?”

“Oh, yeah. I see how I messed that one up.” I had to laugh at myself. “And the answer to your question is, all play and no work makes Jack a homeless boy. Which I don’t think we want to be either.”

“Yeah, I suppose we don’t. So, to work, it is. That means no sexy looks, no getting handsy, no whispered promises of what’s to come once we’re alone. Nothing. We are professionals, and we will act like it.” Lila looked at me with a stern expression then smiled. “And somehow, we’ve got to act like we’re just a couple of friends doing the morning news without bringing any intimacy into our newscast. This should be a piece of cake.” Her frown returned. “Not!”

She was probably right, but what else could we do?

Chapter Twenty-Three

Lila

The male anchors all had a fitting to attend for the jackets Artimus wanted them all to wear for each newscast. The females didn’t have any specific direction for the clothing he wanted us to wear, so we were all free to leave after the rehearsals.

Nina and I left together. She wanted to see her aunt, so she and I caught a ride together to go to the bed and breakfast. After the visit with her aunt was done, she came up to my room to see me for a little visit.

Everyone was getting excited about going live now that the premiere was just a couple days away. I was nervous as well. “Nina, I can’t believe we’re so close. I’ve got goosebumps nearly all the time now.” Duke was part of that reason too, but I couldn’t tell her that.

“I bet you do. You’re going to be in front of the camera—your whole life is probably going to change. I’m not as nervous since I’ll be behind the scenes. It takes some of the pressure off for me.” She took a drink of the wine I’d poured us. “I need to use your facilities, Lila. This wine has gone straight through me, it seems.”

Jerking my head toward the bathroom door, I said, “You know where it is.”

Just as she closed the door behind her, a knock came to my door. I got up and went to see who it could possibly be. When I peeked out the little peephole, I found Duke standing there.

I opened the door quickly, hissing, “Nina’s here. What’re you doing here, Duke?”

He just smiled at me like it wasn’t a problem at all. “You and I have forgotten to exchange phone numbers, Lila. And as co-anchors, we should have them. Chill out, baby. I can play this off.”

I stood there, not knowing what to do. But when the bathroom door opened and Nina came out, the decision was taken out of my hands as she asked, “Who’s here?” She saw Duke, who stood there waving at her. “Oh, it’s you, Duke. What brings you here?” She glanced at me before looking back at him.

“Lila and I haven’t exchanged phone numbers yet. Artimus said we should just in case we needed to do any prep for the premiere outside of work hours. I stopped by to grab her number. How’s it going, Nina?” Duke came inside as I stepped back to let him in. Might as well, since he’d already come up with his little plan.

But I didn’t feel good about things at all. I didn’t want to be found out this close to our first newscast. I wanted to at least get on the air once before I got fired.

“It’s going good, Duke.” She took a seat on the small chair at the table for two near the bed. The only other place to sit was a small loveseat, and I took a seat on it.

Duke sat right next to me. He held out his hand. “Give me your cell, and I’ll put my name and number in your contacts.”

I had to get up to grab my phone off the nightstand by my bed. As I walked back to him, Nina asked, “And how did you know where Lila lived, Duke?”

Only Duke could see me, and I knew my eyes had grown to the size of saucers at her question. He was playing it cool as he answered, “I’ve been here before.”

Before he could go and confess anything, my brain took over and I sat down, handing him my phone and taking over the story. “We were sharing a cab, and I’d gotten out of the car without my purse. Duke noticed before they got too far away, and he ran it up to me. He caught me heading up the stairs. He said he called out to me, but I didn’t hear. I didn’t realize I’d left my purse until I get to my door and needed the key, and when I turned around to run after the cab I saw Duke, wiggling my purse at me.”

Duke had finished putting his number in my phone. Then he called his phone from mine and saved his number. “There, we can communicate effectively now.” He looked at the two glasses of wine, Nina’s empty, mine half full. “And if I recall correctly, you invited me in and gave me a glass of Scotch. You have any of that left?”

Nina’s eyebrows shot up, and I wanted to kick Duke in the shin for what he’d said. “You invited him in?” she sputtered. “And gave him alcohol? You two were drinking alcohol together? All alone?” She shook her head. “This is not good.”

“Why’s that?” Duke asked as he got up and went to the dresser where the Scotch still was and poured himself a glass. Then he came back with the open bottle of wine and filled both our glasses. “Which one is yours, Nina?”

She pointed. “The one on the right.”

He took it to her. “Now, why is it okay for you two to have a couple of drinks together and she and I can’t? We are friends, you know. We will be working closely together from now on. Why wouldn’t we get along?”

Nina sipped the wine while I tried not to freak out and gulp mine down like a lunatic who was close to being caught in an affair that would end my career before it even began.

“Well, I guess you’re right. It’s just that the strict rules of the company have me on edge. I don’t know what’s okay and what’s not. Like the camera crew was all together the other day. The others headed off, and Ashton and I were left alone in the studio. He asked me if I wanted to go grab a bite to eat and I told him that wasn’t a good idea with the rule and all.” She took a long drink, and I could tell she was a little worried.

Duke asked, “Did he make you feel uncomfortable, Nina?” He genuinely looked concerned about her, which softened my heart toward the man even more.

“No,” Nina shook her head. “Not at all. I like Ashton.” She stopped abruptly. “Not like in an inappropriate way or anything like that. Please don’t tell anyone I said that. I just mean that I like him as a person, is all. If there weren’t the rules at work, then I would’ve gone to eat with him like it wasn’t a big deal or anything.”

Nodding with complete understanding, Duke and I both knew what she was talking about. Things were hard to understand, and it felt like everyone was under a microscope. What could we do, and what couldn’t we do?

So I offered her my advice. “I think going to grab a bite to eat with a coworker of the opposite sex is okay. Duke and I have eaten together on a few occasions, and Artimus has come into the café, and he even joined us once. He never said a word about it being a problem. He even told us that he hoped we wouldn’t let the anchor job wouldn’t stop us from becoming friends when that was still all up in the air. He does want us all to get along—just not horizontally.”

Nina nodded, and Duke had a look that worried me a bit. “Nina, don’t let anyone ever get away with doing anything or asking you anything that makes you uncomfortable. But if someone asks you if you want to grab a bite to eat and you want to go, you shouldn’t overthink it. Don’t let all this harassment stuff interfere with anything that’s not harassment, you know what I mean?”

“I know it shouldn’t be this complicated, but I feel like Artimus is just watching us all so closely and it’s gotten confusing. You guys should do a show on this stuff.” She sipped her drink. “You know, to help others understand the difference between harassment and genuine attraction, and how a person can go about figuring out if another person is attracted to you without making them feel odd about it.”

“I wish I knew how to explain that,” Duke said before putting the glass to his lips.

“Me too,” I added. “I guess it’s kind of hard to put into words. But the bottom-line is that if someone asks you to do something you don’t want to, then you can say no. If they threaten to fire you or blackmail you over not doing what they’ve asked, then that’s unacceptable, and you should report that right away. If a man asks you out and you don’t want to go out with him, you tell him no thank you, and if he respects your answer then that’s okay. I think it’s mostly just about respect, right?”

Nina nodded. “Yeah, that sounds right. But how do you know the difference between a date and just grabbing a bite to eat together? That’s what I want to know. Would our boss see Ashton and me eating together as a date? I mean, I see now that it would’ve been fine and that I was being overly cautious. But now that I’ve told Ashton no, he may never feel comfortable enough to ask me again, and I kind of hate that.”

“Well, how about you casually invite him to grab a bite sometime?” I piped up. “That should let him know that you’re fine with being friends who occasionally eat meals together. I don’t see what would be wrong with that.”

She looked at her wineglass with drooping eyes. “And if he says no, then what? Like what if he goes to the boss and tells him I asked him out or something like that?”

Duke was quick to say, “Ashton would never do a thing like that. Not over a simple meal. Now, what Gretchen did, that was lewd, and he didn’t even turn her in. Neither did I, even. Artimus saw what she was doing to both of us, and after talking to Artimus about it, we realized we should’ve gone to him and told him. He understood that we just felt it wasn’t the manly thing to do. The woman couldn’t actually hurt us or make us a do anything we didn’t want to, so why bother turning her in?”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, and I grew angry all over again about that woman. “I’ll tell you why. Because she shouldn’t be able to get away with something a man can’t. Just because she’s a woman doesn’t give her carte blanche to say anything she wants to a man. So what if she didn’t hold anything over your head when you turned her down. You have no idea if she would’ve stooped to blackmailing you both if you didn’t give her what she wanted. She could’ve told you guys that she’d turn you both in for sexual misconduct and then what would you have done? Given into her? Or reported her?”

Duke shook his head. “Well, I definitely wouldn’t have given into her—not in a million years. If she’d pulled a card like that, I definitely would’ve reported her. And I’m sure Ashton would have too.”

“I’m glad it didn’t get that far,” Nina commented. “And I’m like you guys. If a guy was just coming on to me, I don’t think I’d run and tattle on him. If he were lewd though, as you say Gretchen was, then I would’ve reported him. It would just be easier if everyone could just keep it in their pants and stop harassing each, but I guess it isn’t going to be a quick fix.”

Duke stood up after drinking the last bit of his Scotch. “No, it’s not. We all have things to learn. I dropped the ball when it came to stopping someone from making unwelcomed advances, and I won’t do it again, I can tell you that much. I hope no woman I know lets unwelcomed advances go unreported. And with that, I’ll leave you ladies to your visit. I’ll see you both tomorrow at work. Have a great evening.”

I didn’t know what to say. I wanted him to stay. Or I wanted to go with him. I’d had big plans for us tonight, and now I would be spending it all alone. What a disappointment.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Duke

I waited an hour before I texted Lila, telling her to give me a call when she could. She called me right away. “You left!”

“Hello, Lila,” I said with a laugh. “I thought that was what you wanted me to do. And I felt like you two needed time to talk.”

“That was nice of you.” She sighed. “She left about a half hour ago, and I’ve been moping around ever since. I had big plans for you. Our car ride to work this morning was very … inspirational.”

“And that’s why I’m currently waiting at the curb by the bed and breakfast. Pack a bag, baby. You’re coming home with me tonight.”

She squealed with delight, and I loved the sound. “I’ll be right down!”

I ended the call and waited for her to come join me in the cab. Rolling down the window, I waved at her when she came out, then scooted over so she could get in. It all felt rather covert.

She kissed me right away, the wine still on her tongue. “Yum.”

Her eyes were bright and shining as she looked at me. “You tasted the wine, huh?”

“Yep. And I can’t wait to taste every last inch of you, my dear.” I licked up one side of her neck. She still had the braid in, and I tugged at it.

Her hands gripped my biceps as she looked at me with pure lust. “Oh, tonight’s going to be good. I can tell.”

We pawed at each other the entire ride to my place, and barely got inside my door before removing all our clothes. She tossed her bag on the floor, and I pushed her to her knees right there on the living room floor.

Giving her ass a good smack, I moved around behind her, biting her sweet ass before kissing it and running my hand around to play with her clit, which was already swollen with arousal.

She moaned with pleasure. “God, you’re going to destroy me, aren’t you?”

“Destroy, no. Reinvent, yes.” I grabbed her by the waist and thrust my aching cock into her, moving at a slow speed that had her mewling in seconds, begging me to go faster.

Sweet little Lila was a full-on slut in my hands. She’d do anything I wanted. But she’d only do it for me, and that made me one hell of a happy man.

Her body began to tense, on the cusp of orgasm, so when I pulled my cock out of her, she leveled me with a frustrated look. “What’re you doing?”

“You’ll see.” I pulled her up and led her to the sofa. “I want you to suck me off, but stop before I come. I read something today and want to give it a shot.”

“Care to share that information?” she asked as she followed me.

“Nope.” There was no way I was going to try to explain what I was about to do to her. She’d see it as torture, I was sure, and would protest. But I was confident she’d be thanking me in the end.

Taking a seat on the leather sofa, I watched her get on her knees in front of me and start playing with my balls. “Heavy.” Her brows went up. “Full.” She winked. “You sure you want me to stop before you empty them down my throat?”

My cock jerked. “Damn, woman! The things you say get me off so fucking easily. I’ll stop you before I do that, though.”

She licked her lips then pressed them against the top of my dick, licking it a bit. She smiled wickedly and then leaned forward, putting my cock between her big tits. She moved her body up and down, using her breasts to stroke my dick.

“How’s this?” she asked me.

The sight was beyond beautiful. The tip of my cock would peek up in her cleavage then disappear into the hot depths of her luscious mounds. “Fucking amazing.” I had to lean back a bit to give her more room to do her thing.

The sensation was different than what I was used to. No chick had ever done this to me. Probably because it took a lot of stamina, as Lila had to raise her body up and down with each stroke. I wondered how long she could hold up. But then I recalled that I wasn’t letting her get me off completely, so she wouldn’t have to do it that long.

And I was right. Watching her, feeling her in that new way, was very stimulating and soon my balls grew so tight I knew if she went on, I’d burst, spurting come all over her gorgeous face.

Grabbing her by the shoulders, I stopped her. “Your turn.”

“Already?” she asked, letting her boobs fall away from my shaft.

“On your back, knees bent, feet on the ground,” I told her.

She lay back on the floor and did as I’d told her. I could see she thought I was going to eat her out, but I had something different in store.

When I pulled it out, she gasped, “Really, Duke? I’ve never used one of those before.”

“You’ve never had a vibrator?” I was stunned, I had to admit. This woman was phenomenal in the sack. How could she have learned the things she knew without one? She’d said her sexual partners had been few, and that none were any good.

“No. What’re you going to do with it?” She bit her lower lip, turning me on even further.

My grin grew naughty. “Fuck you with it, of course.”

Her eyes went wide. “Of course.”

Turning it on, I decided to start slow, running it down the inside of one of her thighs. She watched it as I moved it. When I pressed it to her clit, I watched her entire body tighten up. “Seems you like it, baby.”

“If you leave it there for even a few more seconds, I’m going to blow apart at the seams,” she let me know.

I moved it down a bit before taking it away to lube it up with some strawberry scented and flavored gel. I figured why not add some flavor to things?

Moving around to get behind her, I sat on the floor and raised her head to lean back against my chest. “I want to watch this with you.”

The lavender dildo wasn’t as big as my cock, or as long, but the vibration would feel different inside her. Inserting it into her pussy, I felt her heart rate increase since my chest was pressed so tightly against her back.

Moving it nice and slow, I wanted to use it on her for a while before I had to take it away. I was acutely aware of my hard cock pressing against the small of her back, feeling every twitch her body made as I toyed with her.

She shivered. “It feels so good, but so different. Have you ever used one of these?”

“Like up my ass?” I asked with a chuckle. “No fucking way, Lila. And I never will, so don’t even think about that. But your ass might like it.”

She moaned a bit. “Yeah, it might.”

Whoa!

I had no idea just how far she’d let me go. It seemed the options were limitless.

I moved it faster and saw her reacting more intensely to what I was doing, her breathing turning heavy. When I felt her clenching around the toy with her pussy, I knew she was getting close and didn’t want me to pull it out. But I did anyway. “That’s enough of this.”

“Aw …” she moaned. “So, what’s next?”

“We kiss.” I pushed her up off the ground and got up too, taking her hand and leading her to the bedroom. Lying her back on the bed, I laid next to her. Resting my hand on her stomach, I leaned down and kissed her, not allowing our bodies to touch anywhere else. Only my hand on her stomach and our mouths working the other’s.

When she ran her hand up my arm, I knew it was time to bring out the big guns. “Hmm. I think I’ll need to use something to restrain those straying hands of yours, baby.”

“What?” she Seemed perplexed.

That look disappeared when I took out a set of handcuffs. “I’m going to cuff your hands together and hook them over the bedpost, so you can’t touch me or get away from me.”

“Oh, God!” She looked like she might just tell me no for the first time ever. But then the look changed to one of excitement. “Cool. We’re going Fifty Shades, huh?”

“Not that deep into it, but a little.” I cuffed her then pulled her arms up before getting back to where I’d left off.

My hand was back on her abdomen, my mouth back on hers, and I kissed her hard and hungrily. My cock ached to be inside of her. Denying myself wasn’t easy, but I had high hopes that I’d take us both to a place we’d never been before. And the fact that I was doing this for the first time with her was the icing on top of a delicious cake.

Lila pulled at the cuffs as she moaned. “Fuck me. Please fuck me, Duke. I’m begging you.”

I thought it might be time to do just that and moved my body over hers, pushing my dick into her soaked cunt. The gel from the vibrator made things even slicker.

Fucking her hard, relentlessly, as she writhed underneath me, the cuffs holding her in place for me, I watched our bodies connecting, moving together to get off.

My cock was bigger and harder than it had ever been. My balls heavier. When I spilled myself inside of her, there was going to be a wonderful mess.

Leaning over her, I kept up the fast pace as I lowered my head to suck one of her tits. Her nipples were so hard they could cut glass. I sucked hard, knowing her stomach was pulling with each tug of my mouth.

She moaned and shrieked with pleasure. Then a string of cuss words came out of her mouth as she arched up to me. Her pussy clenched on my cock so hard I thought she might never let it go.

And with that, I exploded into her like never before. The things I’d read had been right. This was like nothing I’d ever experienced before.

There was this terrible groaning sound, like someone was being killed. It took me a minute to realize it was me who was making those noises. Guttural, feral, primordial was the only way to explain it.

Lila’s body sagged as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes closed, her tits bouncing with her violent breaths. “You okay?”

She nodded weakly. “You?”

“I’m better than okay.” I pulled out of her, and her eyes opened. She looked at me as I unhooked her hands then took the cuffs off.

Rubbing her shoulders, I sat on the bed and pulled her up so I could make sure she wouldn’t hurt later. But I was pretty sure she’d be sore in the morning—and walking funny too.

“I’m okay.” She patted my hand. “Let’s cuddle.”

We scooted down into the bed and I covered us with a blanket, kissing the side of her head as she snuggled up to me. “I want you to know that I’ve never liked anyone as much as I like you, Lila. I doubt I ever will. You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”

“I like you more than anyone I’ve ever met too, Duke. And I think you’re the amazing one. And, for the record, I’m glad you didn’t tell me what you had planned. I would’ve balked. You gave us both a real treat by keeping it to yourself. But I would like to know when you learned how to do that.”

“Today on the Internet. You’d be amazed what you can learn online.”

“I bet. Good job.” And with that, she dozed right off, and I wasn’t far behind her.

Our bodies had never been so completely satisfied and spent, and all they wanted now was to rest.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lila

Duke and I both woke up feeling completely refreshed and went to the station to see what the day held for us. We found out Artimus wanted us all to meet in the largest meeting room so that he could give us a last-minute speech.

With it being Friday, there were only two more days before we’d go on air for the first time Monday morning. I suppose the boss wanted to give us that last minute pep talk before the weekend began. He was giving us those two days off to rest and rejuvenate before our network opened for business. He knew our days would be getting incredibly busy soon enough.

Duke made sure to sit somewhere other than next to me, choosing to sit next to Ashton. Nina and I took seats together not too far behind them. She nudged me, then leaned in close to whisper, “I hope this doesn’t go too long. I’ve got plans to go get a mani-pedi. You wanna join?”

“Why not?” I answered. “It’ll be nice to pamper myself a bit before my world gets turned upside down. I’m in. Anyone else going?”

“Gina from audio and Terrie from wardrobe. Terrie knows this great place that’s really cheap, too. She can get us in since her sister’s sister-in-law owns the place.” Nina winked. “It pays to know people in New York. You’ll find that out the longer you live here.”

“Thanks for letting me into your little circle, Nina. I appreciate it more than you know.” I smiled at her, feeling as if I’d found my new home.

Artimus went up to the podium to deliver his speech. He was wearing an expensive suit and tie, looking dapper and handsome as always. I had to wonder why he was still single. He had wealth, a great physique, a personality to match, and a handsome face, so why was he all alone?

Or was he?

Maybe he simply didn’t want to let us in on his love life. I could see that being the case.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t any of my business, so I pushed the thought out of my head to listen to what the boss had to say.

“Sexual harassment is no joke, people.” He paused as he scanned the room, looking at each and every single one of us. “I’m sure all of you are aware of what’s happening in the entertainment industry right now, and we sent you to those classes so we could educate you as best we could. Even with that, we’ve already had to let someone go because they refused to abide by the rules here at WOLF. I had high hopes that we wouldn’t lose any team members, but some people just don’t want to follow the rules, and they pay a high price for breaking them.”

Nina and I exchanged a look as she whispered, “Good riddance to her.”

I nodded in agreement. I’d had no idea she’d been coming on to Duke. If I had, I didn’t know what I would’ve done. Thank goodness Artimus had seen Gretchen in action and had put a stop to it before I’d had the chance to do something stupid that would’ve gotten me fired too.

But his words sent a chill through me. If Duke and I were ever found out, I knew Artimus would have no choice but to fire us both. And that scared the hell out me.

Things had felt so wonderful since we’d said we wouldn’t be seeing anyone else. And then there was that fantastic sex we’d had the night before.

That had been mind altering for sure!

I would never want to stop being with that man. But I also didn’t want my career to come to a screeching halt so soon. Being fired never looked good on a résumé, after all. Even as a newbie I knew that much.

Artimus looked around the room again, nodding as he did. “Good. It seems everyone is on board with how we all must conduct ourselves. No hanky-panky, no flirting, no touching at all, please. I don’t want to see any hugging for any reason.” His eyes moved from Duke to me, clearly recalling how we’d jumped up and hugged each other when Artimus had given us the news about the co-anchor positions. He’d reprimanded us then, and it seemed he was reminding us of that.

“Can we give each other high fives?” Ashton asked. Light laughter could be heard amongst the staff.

“I’d rather you not do that,” Artimus said as his eyes wandered over the meeting room, taking in each and every single one of the fifty staff members who filled it.

No high fives?

That was a bit overboard in my opinion. It seemed he wanted no kind of physical contact at all. Which was impossible.

I had to say something, so I raised my hand. He gave me a nod, so I said what I thought someone should, “I know this is all very serious, Mr. Wolfe. But I don’t think it’s possible to achieve an environment that completely blocks all physical contact.”

Duke was quick to add, “I agree with Lila. Working so closely together will see us all touching from time to time, even if it’s only an accident. Yesterday I saw Ashton and Nina get into an accidental situation where it looked like he was humping her from behind. Granted, he was only showing her how she had to bend over a table to hold the cue cards at the right angle so Lila and I could both see from.”

Nina’s cheeks were bright red cheeks from Duke’s little story, but she raised her hand to speak anyway. With a nod, our boss let her have the floor. “I know it may have looked bad, but Mr. Lange didn’t actually touch me. He’s very careful not to, I think. We’re all really nervous about all of this. The girls too, sir. We’ve been talking amongst ourselves, us girls, and we all know it’s only a matter of time before another man comes forward with harassment charges on a woman. None of us want to be that woman.”

Ashton raised his hand and Artimus permitted him to speak with yet another nod. “For the record, I would never accuse Nina of any type of harassment. She’s very professional at all times.”

Nina sighed heavily and watched Ashton as he stood and looked around at everyone, saying the words that I supposed she wanted to hear. She mouthed, “Thank you,” to him, then smiled. He smiled back at her before taking his seat.

Artimus nodded. “I know you’re all on edge with these rules, but I think we’ll settle into them just fine. Just mind your Ps and Qs, and I think we’ll all get through this unscathed. It just might take some time to navigate the waters. Okay?”

Artimus looked around as we all nodded in agreement with him, then he turned to Mrs. Baker, who sat in a chair behind him. As he gestured to her, I could see she didn’t look right. She was pale, and her eyes were downcast. Her hands were limp in her lap. She didn’t resemble the poised woman I’d gotten to know over the past few weeks.

She raised her head slowly as Artimus cleared his throat to draw her attention to him. “Mr. Wolfe, I think I’m having a heart attack.”

The room went silent for a moment before we all burst into action. Artimus yanked his cell out of his pocket. “I’ll call 911.”

Some of us staff rushed to her side. Placing my hand on her shoulder, I could feel how cold she was. I looked back at Duke, who wore a suit. “Can you give me your jacket to put around her? She’s very cold.”

He took it off hastily and handed it to me. I draped it over her shoulders. “Everything’s going to be okay, Mrs. Baker.”

Her words were but a whisper, “Make sure Mr. Wolfe calls my husband to let him know, please. I want him there as soon as he can get to me. He’s my world, and I’m his. This is going to be hard for him. Please be there for him if anything happens to me, Lila. You’re so good with people.”

“I will, Mrs. Baker. I promise.” I had no idea she’d thought that way about me. “But you’re going to be okay. You’ll see.”

The other women and I took turns saying comforting things to her as we waited for the paramedics to get there. She held tightly to my hand the entire time.

When they arrived and put her on a stretcher, she still held my hand in hers. “Can she come with me?” she asked the two men who were seeing to her.

One of them looked at me. “I think that’ll be fine.”

Artimus called out to her as we passed him, “I’ll be right behind the ambulance, Mrs. Baker. Don’t you worry a bit.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Duke saying something to Artimus, and then he looked at me and gave me a nod. I had no idea what that meant; my mind was a bit scattered at that moment.

I had to wait for the EMTs to get Mrs. Baker into the back of the ambulance before I could get in. Her color seemed to be getting worse.

One of the paramedics got in the driver’s seat while the other one hooked her up to an IV. She winced with the pain of the large needle he had to stick into the back of her hand. Her hand looked a little frail, definitely showing her age. I knew she had to be in her mid to late sixties.

I held her free hand. “I know so little about you, Mrs. Baker. Now I know you have a husband that you love dearly, and he loves you too. Do you guys have any kids?”

“Two.” She closed her eyes as if searching her memory for them. “John and Jane. Twins.” I could tell it was hard for her to speak. But she went on. “They died in a plane crash when they were twelve. They were heading to summer camp in Utah.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that. And even sorrier that I brought that up, Mrs. Baker.” I bit my lower lip, wishing I’d kept my mouth shut. “You just relax as best you can and don’t worry about a thing. I’ll be right here, and I’ll make sure your husband gets to you as soon as possible.”

“He’s all I have. Please do, Lila.” Her body arched, jerking up suddenly with a violence that told me she was hurting far more than she had let on. Even with that action, she didn’t utter one single cry. She took it all in silence.

Stoic, noble, and always strong, she was one remarkable woman. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve for her children to have been taken away from her so young, either. But she did have a man who loved her, and I prayed that would be enough to keep her alive.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Duke

Racing to the hospital with Artimus, I couldn’t stop praying for Mrs. Baker. To watch a woman who appeared to be so healthy, strong, and full of life be pulled down the way she’d been was shocking.

Life was too damn short, and what was happening to that poor woman brought that home to me.

As Artimus and I entered the emergency department, we met Mr. Baker, who’d barely arrived just before we had. He was demanding to be let back to see his wife. “I need to be with her right now!”

“Mr. Baker,” Artimus called out to him.

The poor man looked like death warmed over. “Artimus. Thank God. She’s here, isn’t she?”

The nurse finally buzzed the door to unlock it. “You can come back, Mr. Baker. We’ve got her in a room now.”

He looked at Artimus, his lips forming a straight line. “I should let you know that I don’t want her going back to work at all. It’s clearly taken a toll on her. It’s time to get yourself a new assistant.” And then he was gone, disappearing behind the double doors that would take him to see his ailing wife.

Artimus looked out of sorts. His eyes were wide, his mouth ajar. “Well, that’s not good news. But I should’ve expected it. I’d be the same way with the woman I loved, I suppose.”

Taking seats, we waited nearly an hour for Lila to come tell us what was going on. When she came out of the same doors Mr. Baker had gone into, I had to fight myself not to grab her up and hug her.

She came and sat on the other side of Artimus. “She’s had a heart attack, but she’s okay now. Tired, sore, not feeling too well at the moment. But she’s going to make a full recovery. They want to keep her for forty-eight hours just to be sure, but I thought she looked much better after they got some medicine into her system and got her hydrated.”

He and I breathed sighs of relief. “Thank God.” Artimus looked much better. “I wonder if I could go back and see her now.”

“I’m sure you can once they get her into a room and out of the E.R. She’s doing much better now.” Lila patted his hand. “Her husband told me she’d no longer be working at WOLF, or anywhere else. Believe it or not, she was pleased with his order.”

“So I will need to find a new assistant then,” he said as he nodded. “The main thing is Mrs. Baker is going to get better. I can deal with teaching a newbie how to assist me. But damn, I’m going to miss that woman.”

We all sat there in silence for a long time, the harsh reality of life hitting all of us square in the chest. The nurse broke our silence as she came and told us what room Mrs. Baker was in and that we could go see her.

After a brief visit with her, we left her with her husband, letting her know to expect all kinds of flowers and cards from everyone at the station. She might not be coming around the station anymore, but she’d always have a place in all our hearts.

As we left the hospital, Artimus giving Lila and me a ride in his private car, he let us in on a surprise, “Well, we were going to announce this at the end of the meeting, but since that didn’t work out, I think I’ll let my two new anchors give the staff the great news.”

“And what’s that?” I asked him.

He pulled a packet out from under his suit jacket. “In here are gift cards to Spirit Spa in Manhattan. It’s an all-inclusive resort. All fifty of you guys have private rooms and access to everything the spa has to offer. There’s a restaurant there too where you each will get three meals. Everything’s included. Even a bar to help you guys relax before our big day on Monday. You can check in as early as ten tomorrow morning and checkout isn’t until two on Sunday.”

Lila was all smiles. “Now that’s some news we’re happy to deliver.”

The very next morning we all met up at the spa, smiles on everyone’s faces and laughter filling the fresh smelling air. The day passed quickly, the men and women separating to get massages, sit in steam rooms, get facials, pedicure, manicures—you name it, that spa had it.

After dinner, some retreated to the bar while others went to their rooms. I spotted Lila walking off by herself toward the rooms and followed along far enough behind her that no one should’ve paid it any mind.

After looking over my shoulder to make sure we were alone in the corridor, I snuck up behind her and grabbed her by the waist. “Hey, there sexy momma.”

She laughed and turned around in my arms, putting hers around my neck. “So, my room’s right here. Will it be mine or yours tonight?”

“I say yours since we’re already right here.” She handed me her keycard, and I swiped it to get us into her room and out of the hallway where anyone might come upon us at any moment.

The door closed by itself behind us and I kissed her all the way to the bed. When the backs of her legs hit the bed, we stopped. Our mouths parted, and I looked into her eyes. She smiled at me with that perfect smile she had. “I’ve missed you today. Everything was great, but it would’ve been even better if you’d been there with me.”

“I thought the same thing, baby.” I began peeling her little sundress off her gorgeous body. I needed to feel her skin against mine, slipping and sliding back and forth.

In no time at all we were in bed, our bodies uniting in a way I’d come to love. As I made long slow strokes into her, I brushed her hair back, gazing at her and thinking about how much I loved the way she looked lying in bed, her hair all splayed out on the pillowcase.

Kissing her cheek, I moved my lips along until I got to her ear. “You make me happy, baby.”

She moaned as I gave her one hard thrust, going deeper into her warm wet pussy. “Duke … you make me happy too.”

I kissed my way back to her mouth, but then everything stopped as a knock came to the door. “Hey, Lila, it’s Nina. Let me in. I’ve got wine.”

We froze. Lila looked at me with wild eyes. “Duke,” she hissed. “What the hell should I do?”

She obviously knew Lila was in the room, so there wasn’t much she could do. “I’ll hide in the closet. You have one drink with her, then say you’re tired and going to bed, and I’ll come back out after she leaves.”

As much as I didn’t want to get off her, I had to. I grabbed a towel to put around my waist as she hurried to put on panties and a nighty. She waited until I’d shut the closet door before letting Nina in. “What took ya so long, Lila? I almost left and went to find someone else to share this wine with.”

“Sorry, I was in the bathroom when you knocked. It took me a second to finish up my business,” Lila lied.

I heard the sound of glasses and liquid being poured into them before Nina said, “Well, I’m glad you finally came to the door. I don’t trust anyone as much as I trust you, Lila. And I’ve got something I’ve just got to get off my chest. It’s driving me insane.”

“And that is?” Lila asked.

Nina made a long drawn out sigh. “I’ve got it bad for Ashton Lange. And I’m pretty sure he likes me too.”

Lila was quiet for a long time before she finally said, “Well, what do you think about that?”

“I know we can’t see each other, but it doesn’t seem fair to me. He and I get along better than anyone I’ve ever known. We like the same things, laugh at the same jokes—it’s just not fair that we can’t date,” Nina whined.

“No, it’s not. That damn rule is ruining things for more than just you, Nina.” Lila huffed.

For a second, I thought she was going to tell Nina about us.

Nina added, “I know that. I’ve seen a few others giving each other the eye, but no one acts on it for fear of losing their jobs.”

“Yeah,” Lila mumbled.

She and I had acted on it though. And my bet was that if Lila and I had gone behind everyone’s back to have a relationship, then there were others who had done that too.

“The thing is,” Nina said, “dating isn’t even close to the same thing as harassment. I know that’s the boss’s primary agenda with the rules he’s put into place, to create a culture that doesn’t tolerate harassment. But we’ve got to figure out a way to get him to loosen these rules up a bit—at least where consensual relationships are concerned. Keep a firm grip on the harassment part, but get more lenient with the relationship part.”

“Hmm,” Lila remarked, “I wonder maybe if all the women banded together to talk to Artimus Wolfe, then maybe he’d see things our way. I know he’s trying to protect all of us, but I think it’s the women he’s trying to protect the most. And that’s admirable, but it’s also too much. We need to let him know that we can watch out for predators and will be sure to report them. We also need to let him know that we’re more than capable of knowing the difference between being harassed and having a mutual attraction that we’d like to see through.”

Nina sounded chipper, “Do you think we could actually pull that off? Because that would be the best thing ever.”

“We’d probably need every female who works there to give her support. If even one doesn’t, then I foresee Artimus shooting us down. We’ll need to do a bit of networking to test the waters with our female coworkers before we go after what we want,” Lila planned.

“I get it,” Nina said. “We have small conversations with the other women we work with, and then we see how they feel about the rules. As soon as we find any one of them saying they think it’s too much, then we let them in on our plan. Right?”

“Right,” Lila assured her.

“That sounds great. I know nothing is going to happen overnight, but at least we have a plan.” Nina sounded happy. A lot happier than she’d been when she’d first come into Lila’s room, moaning about having the hots for Ashton.

I already knew I’d be talking to him to see what he had to say about Nina. I hoped he’d tell me the truth—I did consider us to be good friends, after all.

The girls wrapped it up, and I heard the door close. Soon enough, Lila was opening the closet door. “The coast is clear, Romeo.”

Taking her in my arms, I pulled her close, kissed her sweet lips, and said, “You’re a genius.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Lila

Monday morning came, and the excited energy flowed like a river through the studio. Duke and I sat in high-backed burgundy leather chairs on either side of a small table where cups of coffee sat, steam coming off them. It was a cozy set, meant to emulate the feeling of having a light breakfast with a friend.

Fresh crescent rolls, some bagels, and assorted fruit were also sitting on the table. The whole set looked inviting, complete with a fireplace blazing in the background, as if we were someone’s home.

I found it ironic that Artimus would create such an intimate set, what with his rules being what they were. But I had to admit that I’d never seen anything like it on morning television, and the whole premise was new. I thought it was just what morning television desperately needed.

When the red light came on, we went live. Duke gave me a wide smile, “Good morning, Lila.”

I smiled right back at him just as we’d rehearsed. “Good morning, Duke.”

Then we looked at the camera and said together, “Good morning, New York, and welcome to WOLF.”

The news wasn’t read the way most stations would do it. Instead, we talked about the news as if we were having a conversation about it. Duke picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip before asking, “So, Lila, did you happen to hear about the situation at the intersection of Broadway and 86th Street?”

I picked up a bagel as I shook my head. “No, what’s happened there now?”

“A bus hit a car, and while thankfully no serious injuries were sustained, it has shut down traffic there for the foreseeable future.” Duke picked up a fresh strawberry. “But any New Yorker knows that intersection is to be avoided at all costs anyway, so I’m sure the locals won’t be heading that way.”

We went on like that for the entire two-hour morning show. We delivered the weather that way and talked about last night’s sports scores that way too. It was a blast, and when it was all said and done, our show got high ratings, making everyone happy and hopeful for the shows coming up throughout the day.

I adjourned to my office to see if I had any new emails, Twitter followers, or other social media notifications from the airing of the first show.

“Wow,” I whispered in awe as I saw that my Twitter account had over a thousand new followers. Moving on, I found the same thing had happened to my other social media accounts. When I opened my email, I lost it. “Oh, shit!”

A knock on my door made me jerk my head up and away from my computer screen. I pushed a button on the bottom of the desk to unlock the door.

Artimus strode in, followed by Duke. Artimus wore a broad smile as he said, “It was a great success, Lila.”

“Yes, it was.” I turned the laptop around to show them my emails, and they both laughed.

Duke nodded as he said, “Yeah, I’ve got that little problem too. And I went to Artimus for a solution.”

“I’ve rounded up a few staff members who don’t have much to do between newscasts,” Artimus told me. “So, they’ll take care of all the social media and emails for the news team. I put Nina on yours, Lila. If that’s okay with you?”

“Sure, it is. I hope she doesn’t get overwhelmed with it all.” I was happy she had more to do and hoped that meant a raise in her pay too. “You are paying them more for this extra work, right?”

Artimus laughed. “Of course I am. But I have to tell you that I like how you’re watching out for your coworkers.”

Duke chimed in, “Lila gets along great with everyone. She’s a natural leader.”

“I can see that.” Artimus gave me a nod. “We’ll let you get back to work. Answer what you want and leave the rest for Nina. She’ll be up shortly to get your information so she’ll be able to work from her computer in the office I’ve just assigned her.”

Nina now had her own office. I knew she had to be excited about that. “I can’t wait to see her. Thank you, sir.”

“Lila?” Artimus asked.

“Yes, sir?”

“Just call me Artimus, please. Sir is so … I don’t know, old sounding. Okay?” He shoved his hands into his pants pockets as he smiled at me.

“Sure, Artimus. I can do that. See you guys later.” I went back to reading some of the messages on my computer.

The two walked out, leaving me alone, but I had every idea that Duke would be back sometime later that day. Just before he shut the door behind them, Duke called out to me, “Lunch at Jimmy’s around two, Lila?”

I looked up with a smile. “You buying?”

“No, it’s your turn to pay, cheapskate.” He winked at me.

“Oh, man. I knew my time would come. Knock at my door to remind me when it’s two, and I’ll join you.”

“Sure thing.” He left me then, and I found myself still smiling away.

The time flew as I read through as many of the emails as I could. Nina came up to my office, and her excitement with the extra job and income was obvious. “Lila, I’m like your assistant or media secretary or something. How cool is that?” She was beaming.

“I’m glad it’s you who got the job.” I started writing down the usernames and passwords to all the accounts so that she could access them from her office. “I heard you’ve been given your own office, Nina.”

“I have, and it’s a nice one too. You’ll have to come see it. And try not to look down your nose at it. It’s not nearly as large or nice as this one is, but it’s my first office, so I’m pretty stoked about it.”

“I bet you are. I’ll stop by after lunch and check it out. Maybe bring you a cool stapler or something like that.” I pushed the paper across the desk to her. “Here’s everything you’ll need to gain access to these accounts. I’ll try go through some every day too, so you don’t get overwhelmed.”

“You’re truly the best, Lila.” She pointed to a plant that sat on the window ledge behind me. “And how about you forgo the stapler as an office warming gift and get me a plant instead. I’ve got my very own window too.”

“Look at you,” I said with a laugh. “A plant it is then.”

She was all smiles. “You know, I came here a lowly cue card girl, and on the first day of actual work I get promoted to media assistant and given my own office.” She pointed at the other two doors in my office. “Mine doesn’t have any other doors in it. Where do those lead?”

“A private bathroom and a closet.” I looked at them both. “But don’t get jealous. If you need to use my private bathroom, all you have to do is ask.”

“And I just might do that.” She got up. “Well, I’ve got to get to work on these things here. I have a goal to get every last one of these things commented on or liked by the end of each workday.”

“And follow back too.” I suggested as she walked away from me.

“Will do, boss.” She giggled all the way out the door.

Everyone was on cloud nine the whole morning, everything going off without a hitch. It was all coming together. And then came the knock on my door at two o’clock.

Instead of buzzing him in, I met Duke at the door. “I’m ready.”

“Good.” He stayed by my side as we walked to the elevators. “I’m starving. I sure hope you brought your credit card today.”

“You’re in luck.” I hit the button to go down the elevator. A few others came up behind us. We wouldn’t be making the trip down alone.

The place was busy. It didn’t even seem like the same place we’d be showing up to in the days leading up to today. The lobby was busy too, I found out as we stepped off the elevator.

“Whoa, what’s all this?” one of the other women on the elevator asked.

Some other guy answered, “We’re open for business, and business is good.”

Duke and I kept walking side by side and right out the glass doors, taking a left to head to one of the many cafés on that side of the street. “I’m thinking Italian,” he said.

“Hmm. I was thinking deli.” I nodded at the one that was coming up.

“Let’s split it down the middle and go all-American with some cheeseburgers and onion rings,” he offered.

“I’m with you on that. I want a thick chocolate shake too. And we’ve got to stop by someplace where I can get Nina a plant for her office. I want to give it to her as an office-warming gift.” I pointed across the street at a florist’s shop. “That one will do.”

We found a café and got the burgers we’d wanted, before Duke started in, “So, how many ladies have you rounded up to go to Artimus with?”

“Only Nina and I so far. I haven’t ventured into that territory yet. I’m trying to take it nice and slow. I want to give our boss some time too. Let things settle in for him.” I took a bite of the delicious greasy cheeseburger with extra pickles. “Yum.”

Duke shook his head as he gave a sexy little grin. “That’s exactly what you said last night—about me.”

“Mmm, well you’re yummy too,” I reminded him.

He dipped an onion ring in the ketchup we shared. “How long are we talking here, before you do start to try to talk to some of the other women?”

“I don’t know. There’s no rush.” The Coke fizzed, drawing my attention, so I picked it up and took a drink, all the while noticing the frown on Duke’s handsome face.

“What do you mean there’s no rush?” he asked with a stern tone. “Don’t you want things out in the open?”

“I do. Believe me, I do.” I placed the glass back on the table before picking up my burger. “But things like this aren’t done quickly. I know there are some women there that really like that rule. It makes them feel safe. And that’s a feeling many women haven’t felt in the workplace in many years. I’d hate to change that for them or make them feel like I’m forcing my opinion on them.”

“Well, you’re going to have to start somewhere. You and Nina can’t be the only ones who think this way.” Duke put his burger down. “By the way, I talked to Ashton, and he is into Nina. He’s just worried about the same thing we are, getting fired.”

I thought it over a second before asking him, “Can I tell her that?”

Duke shrugged. “He didn’t say not to.”

She’d be over the moon when I gave her that bit of news. “Thanks. I won’t tell her where I got the information from, don’t worry.”

His brows rose a bit as he asked, “So, does that information make you think you might want to speed things up with your plan? You know, give your best friend a shot at happiness too?”

“Duke, it’s not that easy. This plan is new. It can’t be rushed, and I need more time to make sure I make it count.”

“Yeah, so do I.” He put his half-eaten burger down. “More time with you. Out in the open, like a normal couple. What’s so hard to understand about that? And what about your friend? Shouldn’t Nina and Ashton get to be with each other if they want?”

“Of course.” I glanced at the clock over the bar and saw how time had gotten away from us. “We’ll have to talk about this later. Or better yet, not at all. We’ve got to get going if I’m going to have time to pick up that plant.”

“Fine, I’m done anyway. My appetite is gone now.” He got up and left without waiting for me.

I’d made him mad, but what choice did I have?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Duke

After Lila’s nightly newscast, the last one of the night, we took a cab to her place. She needed clean clothes for the next day, and the plan was to pick up some things and then head back to my apartment to stay the night.

I’d tried to keep my mouth shut about her plan, but I just couldn’t stop myself. “So, did you tell Nina about Ashton?” I plopped down on the edge of her bed as she looked through her closet.

“Yeah.” She laughed. “She was all types of hyped about that. Thanks for letting me tell her, by the way. I think it made her millennium.”

“I bet.” I leaned back to rest on my elbows. “And what did she think about going forward with this plan you two cooked up so that you’ll be allowed to be with the men you yearn for?” I chuckled to try to make light of it. I really was trying very hard to take things for what they were, but it was getting harder and harder to do that.

“Oh, we didn’t talk about that at all.” She tossed a pink dress on the bed. “Do you like that one for the morning show? You could wear pale blue.”

“Sure.” I barely noticed the dress at all as I looked at her. I couldn’t believe she was dawdling so much—how could she not want to put an end to this hiding shit as quickly as possible? “You didn’t talk about that at all? That seems odd. Don’t you both want things to be honest and open? Or is that just me?”

“It’s not just you.” She looked exasperated with me, and that set me off.

“Look, I want you. I want the world to know that you and I have found something. Sure, we work together, but who really gives two flying fucks about that?” I got up and began to pace.

I wanted something, and I was used to making things happen when I saw something I wanted. This time I needed a little assistance. She and I were a team, right? Teammates help each other out, right?

“What are you stomping around for?” she asked me as she placed a pair of nude heels on the bed. “Do you like the way these look with this dress?”

“They look great.” I stopped pacing, annoyed that she’d called it stomping, as if I were some spoiled toddler. “And for the record, I wasn’t stomping, just pacing. I’m kind of upset, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed. Believe me, I’ve noticed. And what do you think I can do to fix that?” She rolled her eyes as she went to her endless supply of makeup to pick out tomorrow’s look. Lila didn’t like the way the makeup girl did her makeup, so she’d do it at home before we’d leave. She’d let them do her hair, but the makeup was her thing.

“So you’ve noticed and you just don’t care?” I asked her, feeling an incredulous expression on my face. I couldn’t believe she knew how much I wanted this and yet was paying so little attention to it. It made it seem like she didn’t care. No, she was just going along, picking out her things like she wasn’t worried about my feelings in the least.

I’d never been a man who made mountains out of molehills. And I didn’t think I was doing it then either. But she sure acted like I was, sighing heavily then looking at me with a sweet expression. “What’s wrong with what we’re doing now?”

“Everything.” I threw my hands in the air. “How can you even ask that question, baby?”

“I don’t see why you think everything is wrong with what we’re doing now. We get to spend some nights together, having crazy great sex. We get to hang out together at work. We get to do almost everything we’d get to do if we were allowed to be a couple.” She paused as she looked at the five shades of pink nail polish that she’d put on top of the dresser.

So I stepped in where she left off. “Yeah, we get to do everything except be a real one out in public. Except for getting to meet each other’s families. Except for getting to walk, hand in hand in Central Park, like all the other couples do.”

Her lips quirked up to one side as she took three of the bottles of polish and laid them next to the dress, which was still lying on her bed. She eyed them until she finally picked one up, moving it away from the dress and taking it out of the running. “That’s really sweet that you want to do all that. And in time we will be able to. No reason to rush anything.”

I was silent, as I had no idea what else to say to her to convince her that she did need to rush just a bit. At this rate, she might not ever go through with her plan. She might have me doing this same exact shit for years.

Well, I wasn’t okay with that. I wanted more. And what I wanted was completely normal. What she was willing to settle for wasn’t. She hadn’t seemed to want this secretive lifestyle when we’d first gotten together, and I didn’t understand why she was being so casual about it now.

“You’re shortchanging yourself, Lila. Think about it.” I tried to pull out any card I could that would pull her into this conversation about us for a little while.

“Duke, I don’t feel like I’m shortchanging myself at all. I’m sorry you feel that way. We are totally getting what we want. I wish you could see that and stop all this.” She put one of the two remaining nail polishes back in her drawer, leaving the one that matched perfectly with the dress on the bed next to it.

I marveled for a moment at how she went about her life. So meticulous, so well prepared. She’d be able to pull her plan off if she just gave it the same thought she gave to her cheeks, lips, and nails. But she didn’t seem motivated to do that.

Honesty is always the best policy, my mother always told me. I thought giving that a try might be the best idea. “Look, I didn’t want to say this. Mostly because I didn’t want to sound needy, but here it goes anyway. Lila, I’m beginning to feel like just a piece of ass to you.”

She laughed as if that notion was utterly ridiculous. “Duke, you are much more than a piece of ass to me. You should know that by now. Didn’t I tell you I wouldn’t be seeing anyone else but you? Doesn’t that show you that you mean more to me than merely someone I happen to be having great sex with?”

“Awe-inspiring sex is how I look at it. But anyway, no, it doesn’t mean that. Not when all we have is a friendship during the day and sex at night, without a soul knowing about it.” I crossed my arms over my chest, adding a humph at the end to punctuate my statement.

“Frankly, I don’t want anyone to know what we’re doing in our private time,” she said, making a face like that was distasteful.

“You know I don’t mean that I want to take out a billboard saying we fucked like rabbits all night long.” I had to huff once more as the steam built up inside of me. “I just want people to know that you and I are together, that’s all.”

She looked at me for a moment. “That’s sweet, babe. It really is. But this sexual misconduct thing is huge. And I can’t go scheming all over the station, pulling in women to overthrow our brand-new boss and take everything over. Sorry. I know I came up with this harebrained idea, but I’m not sure if it’s the right thing to do after all.”

And there it finally was. Lila wasn’t going to go through with her plan at all. And she hadn’t even been straight with me about that. “Well, isn’t that something. A champion communicator who has failed to communicate with the one person she should be able to do that with the best. Our bodies certainly communicate well, don’t they?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry, Duke. I really am.”

“Me too.” I looked away, knowing I couldn’t look at her and say the things I needed to say. “Maybe we should take this back a bit then. Like to the very beginning, before that first kiss. Because I never knew how painful this would be.”

She threw her hands up in the air as if she just couldn’t understand me at all. “Duke, that’s so unnecessary. Do you really want to stop having sex?”

I jerked my head back to look her in the eyes, so she could see I meant what I said, “It’s not just sex with you. You should know that.”

“So what should we do then?” She looked miffed now. “Quit our jobs? Be homeless on the streets of New York and pray one day someone will hire us after quitting our once-in-a-lifetime jobs? And we would do that why, exactly? Love?” She shook her head as if the idea was ludicrous.

“Maybe,” I said softly.

Lila stopped what she was doing to look at me long and hard before she spoke, “Do you love me, Duke Cofield?”

That word hadn’t ever been said between us. Well, it had been a little. But it always pertained to specific things, like how I loved the way she smelled. But we’d never said those three little words that everyone yearns to hear. Or that everyone wants to hear when the other person actually means it. I love you had never been said.

Was I about to utter those words to the woman who refused to do a thing to help us take our relationship to the next level?

No fucking way. “Maybe,” is what came out of my mouth instead.

Her blue eyes drooped at the corners. She sat heavily on the bed. “Then we really do need to stop playing around, don’t we?”

The fact that she hadn’t even returned so much as a maybe in return had me feeling pretty fucking terrible.

After all we’d shared? All we’d done together? How could she not have a little love for me buried in her heart somewhere?

So I decided to give her what she wanted. “I guess we should stop then. Before someone really gets hurt.”

By someone, I meant me. She seemed like she’d be just fucking fine.

Her eyes were glued to the floor, her hands clasped in her lap. “I have fun with you. I like being with you in all ways. But we can’t have more than what we have right now, can we?”

All I could do was shrug. “We could. You just don’t want to do anything to make that happen.”

She shook her head, making that beautiful blonde hair move in thick waves across her back. “I can’t go stirring up the waters yet. I just can’t, Duke.”

It looked like there was nothing else I could say or do to make her understand that I couldn’t go on this way for much longer, much less forever. “Then I guess we should stop this now. No reason to continue, since I seem to be the only one with feelings here.”

Lila didn’t say one word as I headed for the door. It tore me to pieces that she could watch me leave, knowing what we had would be over when I walked out the door. We’d never have another kiss, touch, no more blissful nights in bed, nothing.

My hand grasped the doorknob, and I twisted it open just as my guts twisted deep inside me. I had to leave; I had to do it.

But damn, it was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Lila

I don’t know what I expected when I saw Duke the next day, but I didn’t expect what he did.

We met at the table to do the morning news, the same way we’d done the previous day. He was the normal Duke he’d always been. Chipper, happy, and charming. But when it was over, he got up and walked away without saying so much as see you later.

I watched him go and felt the pull in my heart that begged me to go after him and tell him I’d made a terrible mistake. But I sat there instead, not wanting to make a scene at work that would lead to me losing my job.

I’d felt drained ever since he’d left my room the night before. He’d left a hole inside of me. I hadn’t realized he had taken over such a huge spot inside of me, but he had.

And I had let it all go.

Someone came along to start cleaning up the breakfast stuff off the table, and only then did I get up and head to the elevators that would take me up to my office. I wanted to stay far enough behind Duke that I wouldn’t see him.

It was just too hard.

When I stepped off the elevator into the reception area of the penthouse offices, I didn’t notice a single person I passed as I walked into my office. I stopped and stared at Duke’s door across the hall from mine. I thought about knocking but then decided I shouldn’t.

I went into my office and meandered around aimlessly for a while. My motivation from the day before had abandoned me. Hell, I hadn’t even done my own makeup at home before I came to the station. I’d just showered and dressed then headed to the station to let them make me camera-ready.

My nails were still a mauve color—I hadn’t had it in me last night to paint them to match my dress. All I could do was think about Duke after he left.

The night had been long, and I hadn’t gotten much sleep. What little I had gotten had been riddled with bad dreams. I wasn’t sure how long it would take to get over Duke, or if I ever would.

I’d made such a big mistake acting like things were just fine the way they were. I’d known we had to do something about our situation, but what if we brought it up to other people and that just backfired? And I was just so damn torn about going to all the other women at the station to plead my case to them. Taking away a rule that made some of them feel safe, just so I could have my way—it didn’t sit well with me.

Finally, I took my seat at the desk and opened my laptop to see what kinds of emails had come in. I found way too many of them and found the whole thing overwhelming.

The first one I opened said the person was ready to be a fan-for-life of Duke and me. We were so natural together, it seemed like we’d known one another forever.

I closed the laptop and dropped my head on top of it.

What have I done?

I had no idea how long I lay there like that. When a knock came to my door, I jerked my head up and looked at it.

Could it be him?

I pressed the button under my desk to open the door, and there stood Nina. “Hi, I thought I’d come up and say hello before getting busy on your social media stuff this morning.” She came in and took a seat in the big comfy chair on the other side of my desk. “Wow, are you okay, Lila? I mean, you look out of sorts.”

“I feel out of sorts.” I leaned my head back in the chair instead of taking my old position of lying on the laptop. That one looked a little too pitiful for anyone else to see.

“And why is that?” she asked me.

“I can’t really talk about it.” I turned my chair a bit so I could look out the window. All the skyscrapers out there usually made me feel happy inside. But nothing wasn’t making me feel happy. Nothing at all.

“You can’t talk about it?” Nina asked as she got up and went over to the coffee maker to make a pot of coffee. “You need some caffeine, girl. I’m going to make us up a pot and help you get out of this funk you’ve gotten yourself into.”

I didn’t want any coffee; I wanted Duke to come and tell me it wasn’t really over. But that didn’t happen, and all too soon I was looking at the steaming cup of coffee Nina brought to me.

She stood there, waiting for me to take it out of her hand. “Thank you,” I told her as I took it from her. She wasn’t about to leave until I drank some of it, that was obvious.

Taking her cup back to her seat, she went right into the interrogation phase of our conversation. “So, spill it, Lila. Something’s not right, I can see that. Is it about a family member?”

“No.” I sipped the hot coffee. She’d added some spices and cream, and it was pretty damn good. But I guess I didn’t want anything good because I set it down on my desk.

Nina wasn’t about to be put off. “Is this about a member of the opposite sex?”

I nodded. “Yep,” but kept my eyes on the swirling mist over the coffee cup.

“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Nina placed her cup on the desk too, as if she were really ready to get to work on me. “Is this man a boyfriend?”

“He was,” I admitted that much to her.

“Did this boyfriend break up with you?” She was on fire.

“Yep.” My eyes moved up to hers. “So, now you know the reason for my melancholy mood, Nina. Is this question and answer session over now?”

She smiled at me. “Far from it. Now, to get to the meat of the problem. Why did this boyfriend break up with you? Was it jealousy over your newfound success?”

“Not at all.” I spun back and forth in my chair a bit, feeling fidgety. I would’ve loved nothing more than to spill my guts to Nina. I didn’t have anyone else to talk to about this thing, and she had admitted her own struggles with the stupid rules to me. But I had gone a hell of a lot further than merely lusting after Duke. No, he and I had acted on that mutual attraction, and that had either been the biggest mistake we’d both ever made, or something else. What, I didn’t know.

Nina wasn’t about to give up. “Okay, so not jealous. Did he find another girl he’s interested in?”

“Not that either.” I hoped that if I answered enough of her questions then she’d just leave me alone.

She’d never get the real reason my boyfriend had dumped me. Who would ever get the answer to that question?

“I can’t really see you being this way, but were you bitchy to him?” She leveled her eyes on me.

Had I been?

“I don’t think bitchy is the right term.” I picked up my coffee again, taking a bigger sip of it now that it had cooled off some. “By the way, it would be a crime if I didn’t compliment you on this coffee, Nina. It’s better than any I’ve ever tasted before.”

“Thank you. I was a barista before I got this gig. If I’d had more to work with, I could’ve made you an even better cup of joe.”

“I’ll see that you do get more to work with then, for next time.” I had to smile—the coffee was just so good. “You’ve got hidden talents, my friend.”

“I know, there’re a few more up my sleeve. But back to the Inquisition.” She tapped her chin while she thought up her next question. “If you weren’t bitchy to him, what were you?”

I had to think about that myself. “I suppose you could say that he was more concerned about the state of our relationship than I was. And that’s what got in our way. He couldn’t take the way things had to be between us.”

“And why did things have to be a certain way?” she asked me. “Because of your new schedule or something like that? Was he mad about the time you’ve been spending at work? Because you’re better off without him if he wanted to monopolize your time. You’ve got work to do—you can’t be at some man’s beck and call all the time.”

Shaking my head, I said, “No, that wasn’t it. He just wanted to have something we couldn’t right now. And he grew impatient. Especially when he thought we were close to getting what we wanted, until I backed out of the plan I’d come up with.”

“This is all so mysterious.” She picked up her coffee and took a sip. “Okay, so you both wanted the same thing, but then you changed your mind about it, and he got mad. Was it having a baby? Did you guys want to have a baby, but you got the anchor position and thought that might be a bad idea since you just started the job and all? Because you could tell him that you’re just not ready to get pregnant right now, but in like a year or so you might think about it again. That should make him kind of happy. Happy enough to get back together. Don’t you think so?”

“Well, it’s not about a baby at all, so no, that won’t work.” Holding the warm cup in my hands, I wondered what I could possibly do, short of going to all the women at our station and organizing a protest.

Lila stood up and went to grab the coffee pot to refill our cups. She’d finished hers. Mine was half full, and she topped it off. “And for some reason, you don’t want to let me in on all the details. Hmm. Is this about a man who works here?”

Her question had my hackles rising for fear of being found out. Even if Nina and I were friends, I didn’t want anyone to know our secret. “No.”

She gave me a sideways glance that was more than a little bit knowing. “Okay. Well, let me say this.” She took her seat once again, crossing her long legs and swinging the top one as she pondered my situation. “You’ve been nothing but cheerful and optimistic since I first met you, Lila. You’ve had a genuine smile on your face every day. So, you must’ve been happy with this man.”

“Yes, he made me the happiest I’ve ever been,” I agreed.

“Happiness isn’t exactly easy to find. If you want my advice, it would be to talk to this guy and work together to get whatever it is you both wanted in the first place.” She nodded at me then took a drink of the coffee.

“I don’t think that’s going to happen.” I rested my elbows on the desk and put my head in my hands. Things were truly hopeless, and I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt. “I don’t know how to make things the way they need to be so he and I can have what we want.”

We looked at one another as that sank into both our minds. Things sometimes just couldn’t be fixed, and that was that.

Chapter Thirty

Duke

A week went by and Lila didn’t change the shade of her nail polish. That might not be something a dude would normally notice, but I did. I did because it was Lila, and because that was something she was normally meticulous about. And that told me that she might not be having such an easy time with our breakup.

And I certainly wasn’t having any easy time over losing her.

I could barely eat, hadn’t slept for shit, and never stopped thinking about her. The time had come to fix this situation and get my girl back. However that had to happen.

Lila had left the station after our morning newscast. I watched her walk out the glass doors. Later I saw Nina and asked why Lila had left so early, and she told me that Lila was feeling sick and had even asked the afternoon weather person to take over for her on the nightly news. It was Friday, so she’d have all weekend to get better.

But I knew better, because I’d been with Lila just that morning doing the show with her. She wasn’t sick; she was just upset.

I’d been giving her the cold shoulder. I didn’t know what else to do. It hurt too much to even look at her, knowing I couldn’t have her anymore.

With the knowledge that I was hurting her and myself, I made a decision. One that might just cost me my job. But at that point, I didn’t care anymore. I only cared about Lila and me, and getting back together.

So I marched into Artimus’s office. His new assistant was there, trying to learn the ropes. Artimus was quick to introduce us. “Hey there, Duke. This is my new assistant, Julia Bengal.”

The young woman was striking, with long dark hair and big brown eyes. I thought to myself that Artimus might have a hard time keeping his eyes off this woman. “Nice to meet you, Julia.” I shook her hand.

“You too, Duke. You’re part of the morning anchor team, and you do the sports on the evening news, right? I’ve seen you. You’re great. A real natural. WOLF is lucky to have found you.” She smiled at me then turned away. “If you guys will excuse me, I have to snoop around and find out where everything is so I can actually start helping the boss.”

“Take a seat, Duke,” Artimus said as he gestured to the chair on the other side of his large desk. “What has you dropping by today?”

“Love.” There, I’d said it. My heart was pounding, but I’d put it out there.

“Love?” he asked with raised brows. “So you’ve met someone?”

“I have,” I said, then placed my palms on top of his desk as I sat up. “Okay, let me just get the rest out there for you. Lila and I are in love.”

Artimus rubbed his temples, looking more than displeased with my news. “Shit.”

“No, it’s not bad. Don’t say that. It’s good.” I thought about the current state of our relationship and added, “Or at least it was. It was great actually. Up until she and I broke up.”

His demeanor perked up. “Oh! So, you’ve broken up. Okay then. Things will be fine. You’ll meet someone else. And I won’t have to fire you both. This is good. Much better.”

I shook my head. “No, Artimus, this is not good. This is anything but much better. This is awful. This is as close to hell as I’ve ever come. And believe me, I’ve come very close several times in my life. This is a train wreck is what this it. We’ve got to come up with a solution, you and I. I need her in my life. I can’t stand not being with her. And I know it’s killing her too.”

“She’s okay,” he said as he waved me off. “I haven’t noticed her performance lacking at all.”

“Because she’s a professional, Artimus. Have you even noticed her fingernails?” I asked him.

“Um, no.” He looked puzzled. “What the hell does that even mean, Duke?”

“She paints them to match her outfit. Every single day that woman puts on a new shade of nail polish, and she hasn’t changed her polish in a week. Not at all since I broke up with her.” I smacked the table with my hand. “That means she’s depressed. Upset. And it’s all over our breakup, which I didn’t even want to do but felt I had to if I wanted to remain sane.”

“And employed,” he reminded me.

“Yeah, that too.” I got up and started to pace. Not stomp around, the way Lila had said when we were last together. No, I was staying in complete control. “Artimus, there has to be something we can do to be together out in the open and keep our jobs too.”

His dark brows knitted together while he thought it over, then he raised one finger as his expression went to one of excitement. “You could quit.”

I was shocked. I’d really thought true love would win out. “I’d rather not.”

Julia stepped in. “If I may be so bold, I’d like to say that losing Duke right now would be a terrible mistake. Just saying, boss.” She went back to looking through everything.

I had to make him understand things. “Artimus, there are legitimate couples who work together. I didn’t sexually harass her.”

He smiled at me. “Good to hear. Now stop messing with her altogether, and we’ll be okay.”

“Do you hear yourself?” I had to ask.

“Yes.” Artimus looked at his new assistant for a moment as she picked something off a shelf, before looking back at me. “I suppose I couldn’t do anything if you two were, let’s say, married?”

Married?

Not long after our little meeting, I was on my way to Lila’s place. I had great news for her and knew she’d want to hear it right from my mouth instead of over the phone.

I knocked and called out, “Lila, it’s me, Duke.”

The springs on the bed creaked, telling me she’d been lying on it. Probably crying her pretty blue eyes out. She opened the door, and I looked into her red-rimmed eyes. “Duke, what are you doing here?”

“Delivering news that I hope you’ll be as excited to hear as I am to tell you. Can I come in?” I asked, as she hadn’t stepped back at all, but stood there blocking my entrance.

She looked at me for a moment before answering. “If you do, then nothing can happen, okay? I just can’t take it if I have to lose you again.”

“You won’t lose me again,” I assured her.

She stepped back, looking a bit confused. “What does that mean?”

“You’ll find out in a second.” I closed the door behind us then took each of her arms, holding her back so I could look at her as I delivered the best news ever. “We can see each other out in the open now. And since we can do that, I want this out in the open too. I love you. There, now you know that. And I want you to move in with me. There’s that too.”

She shook her head as if in disbelief. “And how’s this happening?”

She’d missed the best part it seemed, so I had to ask, “Did you hear what I said?”

She nodded. “Yeah, we can be together out in the open.”

That wasn’t enough for me, so I added, “And what else did I say?”

She narrowed her eyes, looking off to one side as if trying to recall everything. “I’m not real sure. You were talking kind of fast, and I thought I heard …”

Taking her by the chin to make her look at me, I went on, “I said that I love you, Lila Banks.”

A smile moved over her lips as she nodded. “Yeah, I heard you. I just wanted to hear you say it again.”

I couldn’t wait any longer and pulled her close, wrapping my arms around her. “You little tease.”

She had something to say too. “I love you too. But what do you mean we can be out in the open now? What happened??”

“I had to quit my job,” I admitted.

She looked horrified. “No!”

I nodded. “Yes. But as I was walking out of Artimus’ office, he stopped me. He told me if I’d go that far for someone, he knew I must really be in love. So, he offered us his congratulations and told me to keep it clean while we’re at any WOLF event or in the building. Other than that, we’re free to do what we want. And I want to do you, right now.”

“We’re really free to see each other, Duke? I can’t believe it! You did it!” She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me.

Holding her felt so right. Everything was going to be okay.

Our mouths parted, and we gazed into each other’s eyes. Always curious, Lila asked, “And what about the other employees?”

“Artimus said he’ll make adjustments to the rules. He and his new assistant think they can come up with something that’s fair, yet still keeps everyone feeling safe.” I kissed her again. Her lips felt so soft against mine, so right.

All I could think about was feeling her skin against mine again. Moving my hands under her dress, I lifted it up, taking it off her. She moaned as our kiss grew in intensity. She helped me get undressed too, and before we knew it we were in her bed, the springs squeaking with each move we made. And we made a lot of them.

The sex was frantic, frenzied as we pulled at each other, wanting it all back the way it had been. Only it was even better this time, now that we wouldn’t have to hide anything—from each other or the world.

Our bodies came together like a bolt of lightning shot right through us, connecting us in its electric current. Our heavy breathing filled the room as we lay there, holding each other so tightly.

We stayed connected as we gained control of our breaths. I kissed her on the top of the head. “I love you, Lila.”

She purred, “I love you, Duke. Did you mean it when you said you want me to move in with you?”

“I certainly did. And please don’t come up with some excuse why you can’t. I really want you in my arms every night, baby.” I kissed her sweet lips to entice her into giving me the answer I wanted to hear.

She smiled when I let her lips go. “Will kisses like that be a part of our daily routine if I do move in with you?”

“Mandatory,” I let her know. “As will nightly cuddling. And don’t forget morning showers. Those will start our days off much better than coffee ever could. I won’t disappoint you, Lila. I promise. Plus, I’ll be able to cook for you if come live with me. That’s a plus. We’ll save on eating out.”

“I have one stipulation, Duke.” Her eyes were glistening as she made her demand.

“And what is that?” I asked, as I knew no matter what it was I would definitely give it to her.

“I get to pay half the bills. All of them, Duke. And I’m serious. I’ve got to pay my way, or I’ll never move in with you.” She looked serious.

“That wasn’t my intention, Lila,” I let her know. “I can pay the bills, baby.”

“Yeah, I know you can. But if we are going to cohabitate then I want to do my part. And I can already see that you have a maid that comes in to clean up. I know you don’t keep that place so sparkling and well-kept all by yourself. So, let me pay my half of everything. I’m not asking, by the way. I’m telling you it has to be that way.” She smiled, knowing damn well I wasn’t going to tell her no.

“Anything you want, baby, you’ve got it.” I kissed her again to seal our new deal.

Life was about to get so much better, and we were more than happy to have found our happily ever after.

The End.

* * *

Lila

“It’s been a whole year since Duke and I started seeing each other, Nina. Can you believe that?” I was shocked how quickly the time had passed.

“Is today some kind of an anniversary for you guys?” She pulled her shades down to look over them at me as we sat outside a little bistro near the news station. The weather was nice and warm, so we were trying to soak up a bit of Vitamin D as we ate lunch.

“Today is the anniversary of our first kiss. It was in a cab, and it was what started it all for us. All it took was one kiss to let us know we had something we had to explore further.” I had to stop and sigh as I recalled that fateful kiss. The heat I’d felt back then radiated once more throughout my body. I had to wave my hand in front of my face to help me cool back down. “That was one hot kiss, I tell you what. Just the memory can still get me all hot and bothered.”

Nina laughed as she put her half-eaten turkey on rye back on the plate. “Well, you’ll have to take that up with Duke after work. No hanky-panky at work you know.”

“I know, Nina. Not to worry. Duke and I are just so glad we get to have a relationship; we’d never do anything to get ourselves fired. Not so much as a held hand or a single kiss has been done while at work.” I took a bite of my BLT, savoring the smoky taste of the bacon.

The sound of a deep male voice came from behind me, “I thought I’d find you here, Lila.”

I turned around to find Duke coming up behind me. “You guessed right. It’s such a nice day; we had to eat outdoors. And just what are you looking for me for?”

“I’m here to steal you away. I’ve already gotten us both off for the rest of the day; others will take over our later newscasts. You and I are free! I’m taking you home to change, and then I’m taking you out for a nice dinner.” He took a seat at the table with us. “So, don’t get too full on lunch, baby.”

“And what prompted all of this?” I asked him as I used the napkin to wipe my mouth. I guess I’d be taking the rest of my meal home, so I wouldn’t spoil my appetite for later.

He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. “Don’t you remember what today is, baby?”

He hadn’t said a word this morning about it being the anniversary of our first kiss. I hadn’t either. I wanted to see if he remembered, and it seemed he had.

I smiled as I answered him, “Would this be the date, one year ago today, that we had our first kiss, Duke?”

His fingers trailed along my jaw as he gazed into my eyes. “It would be that date. And I’m going to make our first anniversary a special one. One I hope you’ll never forget.”

Now I was getting excited. “Wow. So, where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise. Tonight will be full of them,” he promised.

And he wasn’t kidding either. When we got home, I found that he’d had a little black dress and heels delivered to the apartment. After one steamy hot shower together, we got ready to go to dinner.

Duke had made reservations at Le Bernardin, thoroughly surprising me. I loved seafood, and this prestigious restaurant put a French spin on each masterpiece the chef prepared. To top it all off, we had a private dining area just for us.

“This is one gorgeous place, Duke. I can’t believe you’ve brought me here. This meal is going to cost you a small fortune.” I couldn’t quit looking around at all the grandeur. It captivated me.

“It’s all going to be worth it,” he said. Duke paused as he took my hand in his, holding it on the tabletop, “I hope.”

I looked at our clasped hands on the white linen tablecloth. “You hope?”

He nodded but didn’t say anything else. He was being so tight-lipped, and it had me wondering what he was up to. I knew he’d been wanting to find a house and get out of the apartment; maybe that’s what he had up his sleeve. Perhaps he wanted to surprise me with a new home?

Whatever his surprise was, I was being patient about hearing about it. The delicious food helped. Served beautifully, I had the crab legs accompanied by a wonderful soup. Duke had the salmon with caviar. Both meals were decadent and bursting with flavor.

For dessert, Duke had ordered a candied apple to share. “Care to cut it into two pieces, Lila?” he asked as he handed me a knife.

“Sure, I can do that.” I took the knife and split the apple down the middle. Strangely, it had a hollow spot right in the middle—and something fell out of the apple.

I gulped as I saw the big diamond solitaire glistening on the little plate. My heart began to pound. Then Duke picked the ring up. “Well, would you look at this? How’d that get in there?” He took a towelette to clean it before getting down on one knee.

I turned in my seat, my hands covering my mouth as I tried hard not to cry. But it was so unexpected that I was having difficulty with that task. I blinked back my tears because I wanted to see his face ask me a question I had not anticipated.

“Lila Samantha Banks, I’ve loved you for only one year, but it seems like a lifetime. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Would you consider becoming my wife, so we could make our dreams come true?” He pulled my left hand away from my mouth, holding it.

I nodded as words stuck in my throat. But I managed to spit the answer out, “Yes!”

Duke

I thought the sex was beyond amazing after Lila and I had committed to exclusivity a year ago. It had been, but sex after getting engaged topped that by a mile.

As soon as we got back home, Lila and I were all over each other. Her hands moved all over me, mine moved all over her, and we fell into bed in a frenzy of heated body parts.

She sat on top of me, riding me as if she was in the Kentucky Derby. Her hands were flat on my chest as I held her at the waist, picking her up and down as she shouted, “Faster, faster!”

I moved her even faster, making her big tits bounce like crazy. Her blonde hair was a mess of waves that crashed all around her shoulders. She looked wild and gorgeous. And now she was going to be all mine forever.

We’d already picked out the date we’d get married. One year from that very day, the anniversary of our first kiss would also be our wedding anniversary. A year seemed too long to wait, but Lila assured me she’d need that amount of time to plan the perfect wedding.

I had her with me anyway, and that’s all that really mattered to me. Having Lila with me, in my life, in my bed every night—that’s what kept me going. She hadn’t always been in my life, but now I couldn’t even see life without her in it.

“Ah!” she screamed as she came all over my cock. “Yes!”

I rolled over with her, keeping us connected as I did. “Now that you’re slicked up even more for me, I’m about to fuck you senseless, baby.”

Her eyes closed as she moaned, “Do it, Duke. Fuck me senseless.”

Slamming into her, I could feel her cunt still clenching around my hard cock. The tremors from her continuing orgasm spurred me on. Hard and unyielding, I took her until her body climaxed even harder, taking me to my release as well.

I groaned as cum burst out of me, filling her. For the briefest of moments, I thought about her having my baby. And I knew I’d be asking her to have my child soon after our wedding day.

Falling to the side of her, I lay there, both of us trying to catch our breath. When I regained my air, I asked, “What are your thoughts on children, Lila?”

“I like them.” She turned on her side to face me. “What are your thoughts on them?”

“I like them, too,” I told her, and then I ran my finger along her nose. The straightness went all the way to the tip that turned up just a tiny bit. “I’d like to see a little girl running around that has your cute little nose and pretty eyes.”

“You would?” She smiled a sexy, lazy smile that made my heart skip a beat. “I think I’d like to see a little boy who looks just like you.”

“Who knows? We might both get what we want.” I trailed my hand over her shoulder, and then down her arm. “What do you say to getting off the birth control a month or so before the wedding? I’d like to knock you up right away once we’re married.”

“Knock me up, huh?” she laughed a little. “I think I might just like that.” She ran her hand over my stomach as she looked into my eyes. “Promise me you won’t think I’m fat when my belly is swollen with your child, Duke?”

“Fat? You? Never,” I promised. “I think you’ll look adorable with a round belly. And I’m already imagining your bit tits growing even bigger. What a treat for me.” I leaned over to kiss one of those big beauties. “And tasting mother’s milk will be a new experience for me. One I’m sure I’ll love.” I sucked her nipple a bit, making her moan.

“Duke, you naughty boy. That will be for the baby, not you.” She ran her hand through my hair as I continued to suck her breast. “But I have to admit, that feels damn good. I might let you have a little bit of my milk...if you’re a very good boy, that is.” She giggled then moaned as I sucked harder. “Oh, Duke. You’re getting me all keyed up again.”

That’s the plan.

My cock was pulsing back to life as well. The whole idea of having a wedding, and maybe not too far after that having a baby, was arousing somehow. I never knew domestication could be this pleasurable.

I stopped sucking on her for a moment to ask, “Should we start looking for a house soon?”

A grin pulled her lips up to one side. “That would be so much fun, wouldn’t it? A new home to come to after we’re married. A place to raise a family together. I can’t tell you how happy that idea makes me, Duke. You and I are really going to do it, aren’t we? We’re going to get married and have a family and live happily ever after, aren’t we?”

I kissed her plump lips before I gave her the answer she was looking for, “You bet your sweet ass we are. I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life than I am about us being happy for the rest of our lives. Only good can come from this union. I promise you that. I’ll make it my mission in life to see a smile on your face every single day. And any tears shed will only be happy ones from here on out.”

Lila

My knees shook as I got up out of the chair I’d been sitting in to let the stylist do my hair. She’d pulled it into a fancy up-do that had dainty ringlets framing my face.

Nina smiled at me before she left to walk down the aisle. “See you at the end of the blue carpet, Lila—soon to be Mrs. Duke Cofield!”

I’d chosen her to be my maid of honor. There never was any doubt that she’d be that for me. Nina had become my dearest and most trusted friend throughout the two years I’d known her.

Precisely one year after our engagement, Duke and I were tying the knot. I’d learned a lot about the man in the last two years. I learned he could get grouchy if the alarm woke him up. Most of the time he’d beat it, waking up on his own. But a handful of times he hadn’t, and boy, was he a grump when that happened.

He’d learned some things about me too. Like how I get outraged when he just barges into the bathroom while I’m using it. He learned very quickly that we weren’t going to be that kind of couple. Some things had to be separate, and using the bathroom was one of those things.

I could hear the music playing as Nina walked down the aisle. Duke had chosen Ashton to be his best man. I had to wonder if him seeing Nina walking down that aisle might give him ideas. He and she had been an item for a while; I thought it was about time he popped the question to her. Maybe our wedding would spur him on to do just that.

Dad cleared his throat, making me look at him. “My little girl has grown up.”

“Oh, Daddy, please don’t make me cry. I’m begging you.” I took a deep breath to steady myself. Although getting married to Duke was exactly what I wanted, it was still a huge step, and that made it a little scary.

I mean, ‘till death do us part.

That’s a very long time!

At least I prayed it would be anyway. I looped my arm through my father’s and the stylist handed me my white rose bouquet. Off we went to my groom.

Dad just couldn’t be stopped as he said, “Duke Cofield is one lucky man. He’s getting himself the best girl out there.”

I thought he might need to be reminded that he had another daughter. “Let’s not forget about Lily, Dad. She’s great, too.”

“Yes, of course. Your twin sister is a great girl, too. That should go without saying. That said, she’s past due to find herself a nice fella’. You know anyone?” he asked me with a grin.

“This church is filled with eligible bachelors, Dad. If she’s looking, she can find someone here, I bet. But I don’t think she’s looking. Being a doctor takes up a ton of her time.” We came to the back of the church, and I finally saw all our guests. The church was full, every last seat taken. The entire staff of WOLF and both of our large families were all in attendance.

My head went light. “Dad, I feel like I might faint.”

“I believe that’s pretty common when you’re about to walk down the aisle. Your mom told me to tell you that you should look at your soon-to-be husband as you walk toward him—ignore everyone else.” He offered what I found to be good advice.

My eyes homed in on my groom. Duke stood taller than anyone else at the front of the church. His black tux made him look like a king in my eyes. His lips were drawn up into a smile as he looked back at me.

He made a little wave as if saying hello, and I laughed under my breath as I nodded back at him. The wedding march began, and my father started our journey that would change me from a single woman to a part of a married couple.

As we reached the altar, Dad took my bouquet away and handed it to Nina before placing my hand in Duke’s. “My little girl is now a woman. A woman who has chosen you to live the remainder of her life with, Duke. I’m trusting you to take good care of my girl, son. Promise me you’ll always make her your highest priority. She’s an angel sent to us straight from Heaven after all.”

With my father’s words, my eyes clouded with tears. The man had gone and done it, saying something that had me choking up. If the sentiment hadn’t been so sweet, I would’ve been mad at him for making me cry. But damn it, he’d said just the right thing to make my heart swell with love for him.

As Duke took the hand my father offered him, he said, “I can promise you that very easily, sir. She is and always will be my top priority. I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone; she’s at the very top of my heart.”

And there Duke went, too, making the tears spill from my eyes as the dam finally broke. I sniffled and ducked my head, trying desperately to stop myself from full-out bawling like a baby.

Duke’s fingers touched my chin gently. He pulled my head up, seeing my tears, and he gently kissed them away as everyone was awed at the sight. Now I was really having trouble keeping it together.

Somehow, I managed to say the vows and become Mrs. Duke Cofield without having a breakdown of any kind.

The party that followed allowed our families to get to know each other. My older brother Lonnie had found one of my coworkers, and he’d danced the night away with her.

Lily had taken a shine to Jake, Duke’s younger brother. I found that kind of weird as he looked a hell of a lot like Duke, and she and I were identical twins.

Duke’s little sister, Jana, was hitting it off with my cousin, Richey—a thing that Duke wasn’t real keen on. “And what’s up with that kid my baby sister is dancing with so much?”

“Rickey’s harmless. Not anything you’ve got to worry about, hubby.” I had to laugh at his overprotective nature where his baby sis was concerned.

At the very end of the night, Artimus surprised us both with tickets to Thailand. He’d paid for a week-long honeymoon in an overwater bungalow on a pristine beach.

Our marriage had just started, and already it was more than perfect. Things could only get better from here.

Duke

The tropical island paradise proved to be the most arousing place on the planet. My new bride and I barely got to see the gorgeous sunsets and sunrises as we couldn’t stop making love.

In front of the sofa was a glass window on the floor where you could watch the fish swimming around right underneath the bungalow. Lila was face down on the sofa watching the fish when I stepped inside from taking a little nap on the deck.

“You seem more interested in that than the television, baby,” I commented as I made my way to her. My cock was already growing with need as I enjoyed the picture of her laying there wearing only a short silk robe.

Without looking back at me, she said, “It’s really entertaining. I think we should get an aquarium when we get back home.”

We’d be moving into the house we’d bought once we returned to New York. Manhattan would be our new town as we’d found a very nice four bedroom home there. I had every intention of filling at least two of those bedrooms with a couple of kiddos as soon as humanly possible.

Hence, my hard cock clearly ready to get back to work on that very thing.

Taking her by the hand, I pulled her off the sofa. “How about you get on your hands and knees on top of the glass, and I’ll take you from behind while you watch the little fishes?”

Wrapping her arms around me, she sighed and pressed her lips to mine with a soft kiss. “You seem set on impregnating me this week, Duke. Is that your goal with all this sex?”

“I thought you knew that,” I said with a chuckle.

“I had no idea you could be so driven.” She cocked one eyebrow. “What am I saying? I definitely knew you could be this driven.”

“On your knees, wife,” I commanded her.

She laughed as she pulled her robe off. “I hope we don’t scare the fishes.”

“We probably will.” I watched her sink to her knees on top of the glass before she stretched her hands out luxuriously in front of her on either side of the glass.

Her round ass begged to be smacked, so I gave it a few nice ones, making her shiver with anticipation. Reaching around her, I played with her clit for a while as I nibbled on her neck. That always got her nice and wet for me.

When she moved back, pressing her ass against my cock, she purred, “I’m ready now, babe.”

Pushing my hard dick into her soaked pussy, I found she was indeed ready for me. I rocked her back and forth with each thrust I made. She moaned as the tip of my cock bottomed out inside of her. “You like that, baby?” I slapped her ass, making it jiggle.

“Yes,” she moaned out before leaning down on her elbows.

I felt a little room being made inside of her and pushed harder to fill the empty space. “Damn, baby,” I said through clenched teeth. Her tight pussy was molded around my cock, holding it in its snug embrace.

She began to spasm around me as each thrust I made took her a little deeper into her climax. But I wasn’t about to give in just yet. I kept going, trying my hardest to ignore the pull her body was giving me.

The naughty talk started coming my way as she tried to get me to come, “Oh, fuck me good, baby. Your cock is filling me, it’s so huge. Ah! Oh! Fuck!”

I grabbed a chunk of her long hair, pulling her head back as I rammed into her, trying to ignore all her mewling and moaning as her body clenched my cock. “Tell me what I want to hear, Mrs. Cofield.”

A ton of cum came out of her, dripping down the insides of her legs. She was coming so hard that drops fell onto the glass underneath her. It made me slide in and out of her with ease and slowly, the spasms of her cunt softened and grew less intense.

With such a major orgasm wiping her almost completely out, she couldn’t talk, only pant and moan with pleasure. I gave it to her good, starting that orgasm back up and keeping it going and going.

She pounded her fist on the floor as she made animal-like noises. I had her right where I wanted her. Her body was begging to be filled with my seed. I’d never felt so powerful and virile. We’d had more sex than we’d ever had before, but right then, as she writhed on that floor with an orgasm that wouldn’t quit, I knew this was it. This was the time that would matter the most.

Lila jerked her head, making me pull the hair I held in my hand as she whimpered, “Please, Duke. Please, let me have your baby. Give me a part of you. Fill me up, baby, please.”

She’d said similar things before, but this time it hit me square in the heart. This woman wanted to carry a part of me inside of her. She wanted to give me a child. Our child.

The sounds I made as I let it all go were incredible. I was pretty sure the whales out in the ocean had heard me. There was so much cum; it leaked out of her, covering the glass that she’d been looking at the fish through.

I picked her up and lay her on the sofa. Her face was red and shiny, but it glowed, too. We looked into each other’s eyes for a long time, as if communicating without saying a word. We both knew that was it. We were pregnant.

Lila

Only nine months after our honeymoon, I was in the hospital having our twins: a boy and a girl. We’d both gotten our wish, but I couldn’t help thinking that I could’ve waited a bit and had them one at a time instead of all at once.

As I lay there in that hospital bed, I glared at Duke while he patted my head with a cool washcloth. I couldn’t quite recall why I had agreed to do this.

It really fucking hurts!

The whole pregnancy had been terrible. I began to get morning sickness the day I hit my second month of the pregnancy. Morning sickness turned into all damn day and night sickness. On top of that, I had the most intense indigestion I’d ever had.

One would think with all that vomiting that I would’ve lost weight. I might have if I hadn’t been starving all the time. I ate and ate, threw up, and then ate some more. I couldn’t ever really get full. So, I gained more weight than the doctor said I should’ve.

Angry red stretchmarks covered my enormous stomach, and the backs of my thighs had gotten pretty big, too. I didn’t look a thing like myself. One day, I had been very hot all day long. I went to the hair stylist at work and told her to cut it all off. I wanted the shortest haircut I could get away with.

Duke’s reaction was one of complete shock when he arrived on the set of our morning news show and saw what I’d done. His expression was priceless, but he never said a bad word about what I’d done to myself. He merely commented on how gorgeous I looked with the new cut and told me what a bold choice I’d made.

The mirror told me it was a terrible mistake. But the months passed, and it had grown out some. I was hopeful I’d have my long locks back in a year or so. Stupid hormones had me making all kinds of dumb decisions.

Another contraction came, and one of the twins did a tap dance on my spine. “Ow! Damn!”

“What?” Duke asked with concern. “What is it, baby?”

“One of your sadistic little kids just stomped the shit out of my spine, that’s what’s wrong, Duke. And don’t call me baby. Sweet words won’t get you back into my pants ever again. Sex is over for me. Forever!” I meant it too.

Duke smiled as he must’ve thought I was kidding. But I wasn’t kidding at all. If this is what sex does to you, then I wanted no part of it any more. Not even protected sex. I didn’t trust anything to keep me from having to endure this torture again, except abstinence.

The doctor came in to check me. An excruciating process that involved her sticking what felt like her entire hand up my cootch. “Ow!” I let her know that hurt.

She ignored me. “So, we’re at a nine now. It’ll be soon.”

“We’re at a nine?” I asked her as I was the only one who was splitting open in that room.

Duke gripped my shoulder. “No need to be mean to the good doctor, sweetie. She’s just trying to include me in on this.”

The doctor nodded then went to talk to the nurses—about what, I didn’t know. How to torture me further, I’m sure.

I looked at Duke with pure hatred. “Include you in on this?” I shook my head. “It’s not you who’s gained enough weight to resemble a beached whale. It’s not you who’s cried for no reason at all for months. It’s not you who’s tearing apart to bring these little creatures into this world.” Another contraction stopped me, and I just screamed through the whole thing.

I’d picked the absolute worst day to go into labor. There was a storm raging outside, and every damn pregnant woman in the city of New York seemed to be in labor at that exact same hospital. That was the reason behind the anesthesiologist running behind and not giving me my epidural yet. Apparently, every woman in the damn place was begging for one. I must be the last one on the list as he hadn’t gotten to me yet.

And just as I thought my doctor would make him come and hook me up, she blew my world completely apart, “So, there’s not going to be time for an epidural, Lila.”

“What?” my mind shattered. “No! No! No! There’s always time for an epidural, doc!”

Duke took my hand. “It’s going to be okay, baby. I’m with you. I’ll help you through it all. Just breathe. Relax.”

“You relax! I’m about to push two watermelons out of my ass, Duke!” I just couldn’t stop screaming. “This is all your fault! You did this to me! Asshole! Never again, Duke. You’re never touching me again! I’m never having another baby as long as I live!” And I meant it, too.

The next half hour was filled with crying, begging, pleading, and cursing as I pushed out our daughter first, and then our son. And with their tiny cries, and after each one of them wrapped their little hands around my pinky finger, all the anger faded away like magic.

Duke’s smile lit up my world. “You did it, baby.” He kissed my sweaty forehead. “I’m so proud of you.”

I didn’t see how he was proud of me. I’d been a total bitch. I started crying as I looked at my husband who’d been a saint throughout the whole pregnancy. “I love you… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any of what I said…you can touch me again…” My sobbing began to stifle my words.

Duke just laughed and hugged me. “It’s all going to be okay now, Lila. You’ll see. I never took anything you said to heart anyway. One day we’ll have another baby, you’ll see.”

I shook my head. “Oh, no. That part I meant. No more babies for me!”

I’d meant it, too. But only three years later, I found myself yearning for one more kid and went and put myself right back into the position I’d sworn I’d never get into again, pregnant with twins again.

We’d found our happily ever after anyway as that pregnancy wasn’t bad at all—mostly because I’d been assured I would get first dibs on the epidural before anyone else when the time came. And I did, too.

The End.