I watched Olivia as my cab pulled away. What the fuck had I just done? Just a few days ago, I had sworn to keep our relationship to sex and work and nothing else. Now I was inviting Olivia on dates?

I had actually meant to tell her good work this week and see if she wanted to meet for lunch tomorrow to finalize our defense strategy, but when I opened my mouth, apparently, it had other ideas. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely wanted to take Olivia on a date, so I could finally get to know her a little better, but I also knew doing this was taking a huge risk.

I thought about texting her to say something came up, but I couldn’t do it, didn’t want to do it. Because when it came to Olivia, I wasn’t thinking straight anymore. In fact, I wasn’t sure I ever had been.

* * *

I felt like time had frozen. Olivia looked like a goddess. It was as if she moved in slow motion as she exited the building. She was laughing at something the doorman had said, her long, blonde hair swishing around her face as she turned, her dress shimmering in the late evening light, making it look like she was literally glowing.

I was still staring when she approached me a few seconds later.

“Cat got your tongue, Mr. Beck?” she drawled.

“You look stunning,” I managed.

“You told me no pantsuits, so will this do?” She gestured to her dress. Up close I could see it hung to every delicious curve, and all I wanted to do was take her back upstairs and peel it off her.

“I don’t know, throw a blazer over that and you could wear it in court,” I joked. She hit me with her clutch.

“Let’s go, funny guy, I’m starving.”

We sat in a rare, awkward silence, her on one side of the car and me on the other. For the second time in two hours, I wondered if this was a mistake. Maybe I should’ve listened to her when she tried to tell me no.

I watched her as she stared out the window at the passing New York City traffic … she truly was stunning. I’d never seen her hair straight like that and it looked great. I wanted to run my hands through it, down her bare back, and pull her closer to me, but I kept my hands to myself, knowing where that would lead. And as much as I would love nothing more than staying in and feasting on Olivia, I really did want to take her out. Talk to her, get to know her, hopefully see another side of her.

Luckily, the ride to the restaurant was a short one, and before I knew it, we were pulling up outside the steakhouse I had chosen for our date.

I helped Olivia out of the car and led her into the restaurant, where our table was already waiting for us in the back. It was quiet and intimate, and just what I’d wanted.

“Well, well,” Olivia said. “It looks like you have friends in high places on the East Coast, too.”

“I may have pulled a few strings,” I said, pulling her chair out for her.

“I didn’t know you had any friends in New York,” she laughed. “Or any friends at all for that matter.”

“Just because you don’t like me doesn’t mean other people don’t. I happen to be quite likable.”

“Puh-lease...” she laughed again. I loved that sound. When she laughed, it was a rare moment that wasn’t composed and thought out, it was just her. “Let’s list all your likable qualities, shall we? Stubborn, demanding, controlling, arrogant, self-centered...” She counted off on her fingers.

“Those two are the same,” I interjected. I laughed when she rolled her eyes. Even that was sexy. Jesus, this was a bad idea.

“Always has to be right,” she continued.

“I think we share that quality, Ms. Roberts.”

“The difference is I am always right.” Our waiter came and took our drink orders, then left us to peruse the menu. When we had placed our orders, I sat back and admired Olivia again. I took a sip of my drink, watching her the entire time I did.

“If you’re going to stare, you could at least be subtle about it,” she said, taking a sip of her white wine.

“I have no shame in staring at someone as beautiful as you,” I replied. “I like your hair straight like that.”

“Thank you,” she said, and we fell into another uncomfortable silence.

“Olivia, relax. This is just you and me having a nice dinner,” I said. I needed her to relax and have a good time. “We don’t have to call it a date. It doesn’t have to be anything we don’t want it to be.”

She exhaled and took another sip of wine before responding.

“I just don’t understand what your motives are here, Jameson. We work together and occasionally have hot sex.”

“Occasionally?”

“Okay, maybe a lot,” she said. “I just don’t understand, what is the point of this dinner or date or whatever this is?”

“I thought girls liked to get dressed up and go out for no reason?”

“We do ... I do ... I guess,” she said. “This just seems strange.”

“Just have another glass of wine and calm down.”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“If it’ll get you to relax, then yes, the faster the better. Let’s just have dinner and see what happens, but if you still feel uncomfortable when it’s over, I’ll take you home and that will be that, no harm done.” She looked at me like I had just offered her a plea deal when she knew she was innocent.

“Okay,” she shrugged, draining her glass of wine and signaling the waiter to bring her another. Our entrees arrived and we talked about nothing. Past cases, law school stories, everything except what I really wanted to know. Who was Olivia Roberts?

“That was amazing,” she said as we stepped outside. Three glasses of wine later and she seemed to be loosening up a little. “If I remember correctly, you said something about dancing?”

“If that’s what you want, yes, we can go dancing. We can do whatever you want.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” she asked skeptically. Because I love you, the words nearly tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. I coughed and choked back the words as the realization hit me.

“You deserve a break every now and then, Olivia, even from me,” I recovered. I loved Olivia. I looked at her, in her shimmering dress, and smiled. I had fallen for her. I didn’t even try to fight the emotions I was feeling. I put my hand on the small of her back and guided her to a club where we could dance.

We had two more drinks at the bar, and I listened to Olivia ramble on about various clubs she’d been to, clearly feeling the effects of the drinks, while I considered what loving Olivia meant. Love. It had been years since I’d felt anything close to it. Since Natalie walked out and took half my heart with her. I’d forgotten how it felt, how it made everything feel like you were walking on a cloud.

“Hey…” Olivia nudged me, bringing me out of my thoughts. “I thought we came here to dance.”

“Let’s dance then.” I led her to the middle of the dance floor, still sparsely populated this early in the evening. It was a fast song, pumping with bass, and I mostly watched in amusement as Olivia danced and did things in her heels I couldn’t ever imagine doing in bare feet. The song changed to something slower, and I pulled her close to me. She was out of breath, and there was a sheen of sweat glistening on her chest.

Her body settled into a rhythm with mine, her arms resting on my shoulders, her pelvis grinding into mine.

“I’m not going to make it one song if you keep dancing like that,” I whispered in her ear.

“Maybe that’s my goal,” she said with a shrug. I grabbed her ass and pulled her flush against my body so she could clearly feel what she was doing to me.

“If that’s want you want, baby, say the word and we’re gone,” I hissed. She grabbed my face and leaned in for a long, hard kiss.

“You know I can’t resist you, Jameson,” she said when she pulled away, and I wondered if it was her or the alcohol talking.

“That’s it, let’s go,” I said, grabbing her hand and pulling her off the dance floor.

“I wasn’t done dancing,” she pouted.

“You can dance at my place, naked.” I winked and hailed us a cab. We tried to make out in the car, but the tight fabric of her dress made moving around difficult, and short of me climbing on top of her, it just wasn’t going to work. We rode in silence, except the tapping of her foot on the floorboard. When we finally pulled up outside my apartment, I tossed some bills to the driver and was inside my building within seconds, Olivia dragging behind me by the death grip I had on her hand.

When the elevator doors slid closed behind us, I pushed her against the wall, running my tongue up the seam of her ample cleavage before I devoured her mouth. We stayed in the elevator for several seconds after the doors opened on my floor. The ding letting us know the elevator would be going back down startled me out of the kiss. Once in my apartment, I kicked the door behind me and grabbed Olivia’s hand to immediately lead her to my bedroom. She didn’t object, just scurried to keep up with me, her heels clattering on the floor as she did.

The full moon was shining through the huge windows in my room, bathing the entire room in a pale blue glow. I stopped next to the bed. We locked eyes, and I saw everything I was feeling inside reflected in her deep brown eyes. Lust, fire, passion, desire ... it was all there, swirling behind her thick, black eyelashes. She reached behind her and pulled the zipper of her dress down, never taking her eyes off mine.

The fabric fell to the floor. She was completely naked underneath her shimmering dress. I smiled and ran a hand through my hair.

“Jesus, Olivia, are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“I just know what you like,” she said, waltzing toward me. She stopped in front of me, loosened my tie, and began unbuttoning my shirt. I ran my hands down her back and grabbed her ass, massaging her flesh with my fingertips as she undressed me. She took her sweet ass time. By the time she pushed my boxer briefs to the floor, I thought I was going to explode. She reached down and took me in her hand, but I pushed her away.

“My turn,” I grunted. I grabbed a condom out of the nightstand and rolled it on before I pushed her on the bed so she was on her hands and knees. I took a few seconds to admire the view.

“God, Olivia, you are so fucking perfect,” I murmured. Then I slammed into her.

“Fuck!” she yelled. I grabbed her hips and held her steady while I pushed and pulled, in and out, long, hard strokes that made her moan my name and grip the sheets. She clenched around me and swore loudly. I wasn’t going to last long like this. I pulled out and flipped her over, dropping to my knees and sucking her clit into my mouth.

“Jesus Christ,” she moaned, her hands running through my hair. Her moans filled the air as her body writhed beneath my mouth. “Fuck, Jameson, I’m going to come,” she moaned, gripping my hair hard. Her thighs clenched around my head as her orgasm hit her. I stood back up, spread her legs wide, and thrust inside her while she was still coming down from her orgasm.

“Fuck, Olivia, I’ve never met anyone like you,” I grunted. “Your body is fucking amazing.” I moved faster, slamming in and out of her, her moans getting louder and louder, sweat shining off both of us in the moonlight.

Our eyes met and she bit her lip, running a hand down her stomach to the place where our bodies met. Her head dropped back and her eyes closed when she ran her fingers over her clit.

“That’s it, baby, touch yourself for me, make us both come.” My words elicited a growl from the back of her throat, but she didn’t stop. I was getting close. I couldn’t hold on much longer.

“Holy fuck! God, yes!” Olivia yelled, her body clenching around mine as her orgasm hit.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Olivia,” I moaned and shuddered as I came. I buried myself inside her, as deep as I could go, and rode out the waves of pleasure.

I collapsed next to her, my body spent, but my mind still spinning. I listened as Olivia’s breathing evened out and she dozed off. I opened my eyes and looked at her sleeping in the moonlight. God, I love this woman was the last thought I had before sleep pulled me under.