Chapter Three
Noah
I locked myself in my office and tried to pull myself together. I was coming undone at the seams with lust. I wanted Elena so badly it hurt, my dick throbbing in my pants so that I had to readjust. I wanted to unwrap her, savor every inch of her before I split her open and reached into her core. I wanted to fuck her until all the tension that had built up between us snapped like a rubber band, and I could breathe again.
I couldn’t believe I’d kissed her. One moment I had been worried about the company losing its investors and the next I hadn’t been able to think about anything or see anything but Elena. She had been taunting me with her stunning body and her beautiful mind for weeks. And today, I’d let my guard down enough for it to get the better of me.
And it had been amazing. Kissing Elena had been electric like I’d finally been plugged into the right power source, and I felt alive after being dull and empty for so long. Kissing her had been like coming home.
Was it only because she was off limits? What was it they said about forbidden fruit? The thrill of the secrecy might have done it. Or the feeling of doing something wrong and getting away with it.
It had been spectacular.
But it was all wrong. She was my secretary, a part of the company, and I shouldn’t have kissed her. Wanting so much more was wrong. Thank God I had had the good sense to get away from her, or I might have acted on my desire, tooIt would have been a disaster. A beautiful, delicious disaster.
Elena had to run out of the office to take care of errands, and I silently thanked the powers that be that I didn’t have to be the one to send her away. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without making it seem like I was dismissing her for something I had done wrong. But there was no way I would have been able to deal with her around the office all day. Not with how heavy my balls felt now, and how badly I needed to fuck her to get the imagines of her body, the taste of her lips, out of my system.
I picked up the phone and made a call to the marketing department.
“Doug,” I said, “I need a drink. Smuggler’s tonight?”
“You’re on,” Doug said.
We ended the call. I needed to get out, get drunk and get all of this behind me. I had acted inappropriately.
I tried to work, but my mind drifted to Elena all the time, my stomach knotting into a fist of nerves. Finally, I couldn’t stand it anymore and picked up the phone.
“Elena,” I said when she answered on the second ring. “I need to talk to you.”
“Yes,” she said as if she’d been expecting my call.
I took a deep breath. There was no easy way to say this, but I was a dog with my tail between my legs.
“I was wrong,” I said. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” she asked.
God, she was going to make me say it. “For kissing you.”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said, and she sounded like she meant it. “I’m not going to run to HR if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I closed my eyes. I hadn’t been worried about that at all. I was more concerned about what she thought of me, now.
“And you don’t have to worry about me, either,” she added as if she knew what I was thinking. “I’m not sorry it happened.”
“You’re not?” I asked.
She giggled, and it chimed over the phone. I closed my eyes, the tightness in my chest finally letting up like a string being unwound.
“No,” she said. “You’re a good kisser. I was wondering about that.”
It was the right amount of flirting and joking to ease up the tension, to bring her lightheartedness across the phone to me. And it made my cock twitch in my pants again. I wanted her. Badly.
“I’ll see you on Monday, Noah,” Elena said, and I could hear she was still smiling.
“Have a good weekend,” I said, and we ended the call. I leaned back in my chair with a groan, my office coming into focus again. She had this effect on me, making me want to ignore every rule in the book and do what I wanted. She made me primal. I wanted to undress her, strip her naked and spread her legs with my hand. I closed my eyes and pictured her curves when she was around the office, letting my mind fill in the blanks. I knew she was beautiful underneath her clothes, rare and exotic. I wanted to know what she smelled like, what she tasted like. I stroked my fingers over the ridge in my pants and shuddered. I needed a release. I needed to take the edge off. If not with sex, then alcohol.
I picked up the phone again and dialed Diane’s number. I’d forgotten to check with her before arranging with Doug.
“How’s Lilly doing?” I asked when Diane picked up. My daughter’s interests always took precedence.
“She’s doing fine,” Diane said. “She’s been coughing, nothing serious, but you should keep an eye on it this weekend. Other than that, she’s okay. Tired, I think.”
I nodded. “I know it’s a Friday, but can you stay later? I wanted to meet a friend.”
“Of course,” Diane said. “No one can work and be a parent without a break. Enjoy yourself. I’ll sleep in the spare bedroom until you’re back.”
“Thank you, Diane,” I said. “I know it’s a big deal to give up a Friday night for me.”
When she spoke, I could hear her smiling. “You pay me double my normal fee per hour to do it.”
I chuckled and hung up the phone. She was right, of course, but it wasn’t about money. Diane loved Lilly the way an aunt might.
I packed up my things and walked to the parking garage, tossing my briefcase in the back before heading out.
Smuggler’s Cove was a popular bar two blocks away from City Hall, and despite the pirate theme and cliché name, it was always filled to the brim. Doug had already claimed a table inside, or else we might have had to bribe the doorman to get us space.
The place was decorated with various shades and textures of brown, with a bar that had a host of alcohol bottles stacked behind it and a menu with killer drinks. They had specials and cocktails that were found nowhere else, but Doug and I stuck to our usual; whiskey.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Doug asked when we both had a drink in front of us and sipped it carefully, savoring the taste.
“It’s been a rough week,” I said. I wasn’t lying. The week had been rough, but it hadn’t driven me to drink.
“Investor issues?” Doug asked.
I nodded, sipping my whiskey.
Doug worked for the marketing department, handling a team of copy editors and designers. His job was of such a nature that our being friends didn’t cause any kind of professional conflict, and it was what I needed; someone who knew enough about my job to give sound advice but not be involved enough to be personally conflicted.
“They’ll pull through as long as you do,” he said.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Doug sighed. “It’s not an insult. But you know how I feel about this. You have to do something different if you want this company to keep it’s head above water. It’s not a joke and the personal touch can only bring you so far. They love you, but love doesn’t earn a dime.” His blond hair was shaved short and his icy eyes stood out because of it. He got things done because he had a no-nonsense appearance even though he partied every weekend like he was a teenager and fucked women like it was going out of fashion. Doug had been divorced twice, and it was the only thing I would never take advice on from him: relationships. He was a father, too, but with joint custody which meant he could only see his kids every other weekend and Wednesday afternoons.
I was lucky to have Lilly all to myself.
“How’s that secretary of yours doing?” Doug asked and I stiffened, blinking at him. But he couldn’t know.
“It’s working out,” I said. Doug had met her a few times when he’d come to my office, and he’d known about her probation period. “She’s permanent, now.”
Doug nodded. “Good move,” he said. “Having a woman like that around,” his sentence tapered off, and he bit his bottom lip, sucking air through his teeth. “I would walk around with a permanent hard-on.”
If it were any other woman he was talking about, I would have laughed and shaken my head, or laughed and agreed. But not this time.
“She’s off limits,” I said, and my voice came out a lot more hostile than I’d meant.
Dough laughed, holding up his hands. “I was just saying,” he said. “But something tells me it’s not company policy that’s got you riled up. When are you going to tap that?”
As soon as I can, I thought. I shook my head. “That’s not happening. Like I said, off limits.”
“Right. Even for you, the god of Saturn Intelligence.”
Doug’s eyes were full of mischief, and he was laughing at me.
“Give me a break,” I said, throwing the remaining whiskey back in one go and waving for another. “It’s not like that.”
“Bullshit,” Doug said. “I see how you look at her.”
“How?” I asked.
“Like ‘naked’ should be the dress code in your office.”
I rolled my eyes and put my fist on my hip, bouncing my knee on the floor. Where the hell was my whiskey?
After two drinks, we ordered the check, and I drove home, taking back roads to avoid being pulled over. I wasn’t drunk, but I didn’t feel like getting a DUI – my reputation had to stay spotless for my company to survive at all – and Lillian was waiting for me. I thought about what Doug had said on the way. He was right, of course. I wanted to tap that with Elena, badly. I chuckled at his naked comment now that he wasn’t around to see me enjoy it. God, if only. But it was Elena, and she worked for me. If I wasn’t careful, the attraction between us could turn into something that could get us into trouble. My company didn’t need that.
But I did. My want was turning into a need. I needed to fuck her.
I pulled into the garage and entered the kitchen, tiptoeing past Lilly’s room to wake up Diane in one of the guest bedrooms. She wasn’t in a deep sleep, sitting up in bed when I quietly opened the door.
“Thank you,” I whispered and pushed a wad of bills into her hands. It was more than she charged me. A lot more.
“This is too much,” she said.
“It’s just right,” I said and gestured with my head down the passage. She smiled, and I let her out.
When I walked into Lilly’s room, I heard her cough. It was only one or two, and it wasn’t deep and raspy. I let myself into her room and kissed her on the head, pulling the covers up a little. She sighed in her sleep, and I watched her for a moment, marveling that I had a hand in making something so perfect.
“Goodnight, princess,” I whispered before leaving her room and closing the door halfway again. I walked to my bedroom, showering before getting into bed. When I lay beneath the covers and closed my eyes, the world spun ever so slowly around me, suggesting that the alcohol had affected me more than I’d thought.
Elena’s face flashed before me, and I was aware of my own heartbeat. I was tired, but it was fulfilling, rather than exhausting. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.