Ethan
Waking up next to Lexi was just how I wanted it. The night was how I wanted it to end. Her body felt exactly the way I thought it would and the sex was better than I expected it would be.
I had an early meeting this morning, and had to leave her to wake up in bed alone. I wasn't happy about that at all. I wanted to be there when she woke up. I wanted to have sex with her all over again, but this Washington account is keeping me up at night and it’s starting to piss me off a lot more. Now it's time for me to talk to them to show that I mean what I say. The contract is what I want, and I’m not going to back down.
Work is annoying me. Everything they’re saying is wrong. Why can't they just do their job? It's not like it’s that difficult. Every account always comes back to me because they seem to fuck it up somehow.
To lighten my mood a little, I sent flowers to Lexi. I wanted her to know that I was thinking about her; thinking about having sex with her. I wanted to have morning sex, shower sex, counter sex, even sex in my bed a few more times. We had sex three times last night, and if I had more condoms, we would have done it a lot more. That goes to prove I want her all day, every day.
“Selena!” I shout, and she comes running into the office. “What the fuck is the reason Emily gave for saying no to this teacher? She ticks every fucking box of her requirements.” I throw the file on the table. I thought my day couldn't get worse but I was wrong. Emily is being so problematic on this, and it’s irritating me to the point where I want to put the center on hold until I get the two malls complete so that I can focus on it alone.
“I’m not sure. She didn’t say anything to me. I can schedule a meeting with her, if you’d like,” she says opening her agenda to see when I would be free for an all-day meeting with her.
“No, leave it for a while.” I wave her out of the room, then close my eyes and lean my head back on my chair to try and come up with another plan, and figure out what the hell Emily’s problem is. There must be some reason she’s always saying no to me.
“Sir, your meeting for this afternoon got cancelled. They said they'll call to rearrange. You also have a Skype call with the London team this evening.” I open my eyes to see Selena still standing there.
“I’m leaving the office for the day—I’ll do the meeting from home,” I say shutting down my computer. I grab my coat and leave without saying another word.
“Ethan.” I stop as I hear Travis calling my name. “I got the paperwork from Washington, and they’ve changed a few things. I’m on board with them, but thought you might want check them out.” He hands me the folder.
“I'll read it once I get home and call you,” I tell him. My phone starts ringing, so I pull it from my pocket, bristling at the name on the screen. I turn it toward Travis showing him the name before answering. “I’ve told you I won’t give you a fucking cent. I’ve told you I don’t want to talk to you, and I’ve told you my fucking lawyer is the person you need call.” Ending the call, I shake my head. If so many businesses didn’t have my number, I would change it. But, then she would just show up on my doorstep and that’s the last thing I need.
“Does Lexi know about her?” Travis asks, walking with me to the elevator.
“No, and I plan to keep it that way. She’s just wanting money. She should have thought about that before doing what she did.” Pressing the button to the elevator, I turn to look at him. “She had her chance to talk and she fucked it up.” As the doors open and I enter the elevator, I turn back to him. “I'll call you tonight,” I say, waving the file at him.
How dare she call me after two years thinking I’ve forgotten what she did—what they did. I don’t forget… I never forget.
***
I'm not even surprised to see Lexi talking to Joe when I walk into the building. The man brings her cakes and biscuits his wife has made. She's made a good friend in him. My lips curl up in a smile as I hear her laughing.
“Joe, I’m going to ask your wife if that's true, because that's so funny,” she tells him, breaking out into a fit of giggles.
“I can call her if…” He stops talking when he sees me walking closer to him. “Sir, the builders are in the penthouse. They said they had some questions and would like you to go up and speak with them,” Joe tells me, and Lexi jumps off the counter and stands next to me.
I look over her standing in her denim shorts, just the way I like. “Thank you, I'll go straight up.” I look back over at Joe. “What treats have you brought with you today?” I ask him, as I see Lexi chewing something.
“Lemon cookies. It’s an old family recipe,” Joe says, looking over at Lexi.
“I’m not sharing them with him.” She gives Joe a wink. “How was your day? Mine was wonderful. I went to all my beauty appointments then chilled with Joe.” She leans on the front desk, taking another bite of the cookies.
“Beauty appointments?” I ask raising my eyebrows at her.
“I had a facial and—” she stops when her phone rings. “Ms. Jackie,” she says walking away from me.
I watch her walking out of the building. I can tell it’s a conversation she doesn’t want me to hear.
“You got a good one there, sir,” Joe says, and I turn to face him. “You don’t find them like her anymore.” He smiles at me, and I look back at Lexi, who turns to face me, but then quickly looks away. I get the feeling the conversation she’s having isn’t a good one.
“I won’t be letting her go. You will be seeing a lot more of her,” I say, walking out of the building.
“I can look after myself… No… I'll talk to Dan… He’s here and there’s nothing I can do about it, so…” She turns and sees me and stops talking. “Ms. Jackie, can I call you back… Yes… I'll call you later.” She ends the call and puts her phone away.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, would you like some lunch?” She looks around the street. “I thought we could have sushi,” she says with a smile.
“I thought we could pick up from last night.” I close the gap between us. “I don’t want the marks on my back to fade,” I say, slowly licking her neck.
“Last night was the wine, it was all the wine, I—”
“I—what? The marks on my back came from you,” I say, bringing my mouth closer to her ear. “I came in your mouth, and I’m sure the wine wasn’t the reason you let me fuck you…all three times,” I whisper.
“So, sushi?” Lexi moves away from me, making me laugh. If she wants to pretend like it didn't happen, then I'll play her game for now.
“Want to order in, or go out?” I ask her.
“Eat in,” she says walking past me and back into the building, and it’s just what I wanted to hear. Nothing stopping me from a repeat of last night.
Following Lexi in, I take my phone out and call the place I normally get my takeout from. “Food will be here in ten minutes.” I place my hand on Lexi’s back and she jumps, which worries me about what that call was about.
“Great, I’m hungry,” she says as I press the button to the elevator. “Are you going to the penthouse first?”
We step into the elevator, and I press her into the corner as soon as the doors close. “Do you know how much I love it when you show off your legs?” I look at her but she’s not looking at me. “Lexi, you might want to forget last night, but I promise you, I’m never going to forget and I plan on doing it again very soon.” Moving her hair out of the way, I move closer to her neck. “Your scent is so intoxicating.” Placing kisses on her neck, I hear her take in a little gasp.
Lexi bites her bottom lips as the doors open. She wants this as much as I want this. I know it, but I have no idea what's stopping her from taking the next step with me.
The doors open and I pull away from her. Following her into the kitchen, I pour myself a glass of whiskey and stand back just watching her. What's going through her head? What's she thinking about?
She looks through her phone, then dials a number. “Dan, are you free to talk?” She looks over her shoulder at me, then back out of the window. “Yeah, Ms. Jackie called me and told me he’s found me and is here.” I want to know who this he is, and why she has been acting funny since the phone call with Jackie. “I know… Do you want dinner tonight?” she asks. She looks over at me, silently asking if we have plans tonight. I did, and they involved her being naked in my bed, but I don’t own her. She’s her own person and I want her to live her life as normal as possible, so I shake my head to let her know to go ahead and make her plans. “Meet you there.” Ending the call, she looks over at me.
“What time are you leaving?” I ask her, as she walks back over to me.
“About seven. What’s the plan for tomorrow?” she asks, grabbing a water bottle out of the fridge.
Pulling her closer to me, I cage her between my arms. “For starters, I thought I could eat you.” I place my hand on her waist letting my fingers brush her skin.
“I shouldn’t have had sex with you, not even for four million dollars,” she tells me. I grin at her as I take my hand out from under her top. “I’m worth more than that.”
“Worth so much more.” Bringing my lips to her ear, I nibble on her earlobe and whisper, “I'll burn the contract if you say you will go on a date with me.” I kiss her jaw. “I want you in my bed.” She moans as I move my lips to her neck. “You want me just as much as I want you,” I mumble as I kiss the soft spot between her neck and collarbone, my hand slowly moving up her body.
“No, I don’t.”
Pulling away from her, I look in her eyes. “You do, too. Your eyes are begging me—your heart is beating harder because you’re excited.” I slowly brush my finger across her waist and stop just above her button of her shorts. “And, if I touch you here, I’d bet my whole bank account you would be wet.”
She smiles when there's a knock on the door. “Ethan.” I turn around to face her. “It never hurts to say please,” she says then walks away.
I look at her for a moment. The word ‘please’ leaves her lips like it’s important to her. Something is happening to her; something she doesn’t think is important enough to share with me. I’m going to call Jackie for a dinner meeting for tonight. Maybe she can tell me something about what's going on with Lexi.