Six weeks had passed since I last laid eyes on him, and I couldn’t help but notice the difference. The excitement, the life I saw more and more through that night, was gone. The light inside was replaced by the loneliness I’d also seen in him. All work and no play.It was hard to keep my attention on what was being said, my gaze locked on him. His lips moved, but I heard none of the words, until his eyes were fixed on me. In fact, the whole room was. A jolt of panic kicked inside me.“I’m sorry?” I asked, realizing my wandering mind had missed something important.“I asked why there are so many discrepancies in the GL for January. They should have been addressed before month end, yet they are still hanging open.”It was something I knew was going to come up. All accounts were supposed to be balanced by month end, but there were two general ledgers that wouldn’t balance and I was still investigating the reason why.I cleared my throat, nervous energy vibrating through my ve
Hours later I was fresh out of the shower and staring down at the two dresses I’d picked out. One was the standard little black dress, the other was that dress, the silver one I’d worn the night we met.Was it cliché? Stupid? Was I being an idiot for even considering it?“Knock knock!” Jenna called out as she entered, the sound of the lock clicking back into place.“Bedroom,” I called back.She walked in with her makeup kit in one hand and her curling iron in the other. She set it all down on the bathroom vanity before coming to stand next to me.“What do I do?”“Oh, hell, yes,” Jenna said when her gaze hit the dress I’d worn on New Year’s Eve. She picked it up and brushed the other one to the side, barely looking at it. Not that she hadn’t seen it before—I’d worn it to the office Christmas party.“Not too much?”She shook her head. “Totally fitting, but it reminds me…I can’t believe you got pregnant on New Year’s Eve!”A chuckle left me. “I still can’t believe you hoo
The entire way to the restaurant I couldn’t help but constantly glance over at her. In that dress, it was like we were picking right back up, like the last six weeks hadn’t even passed.Six weeks that I pined for her thinking she’d blown me off, but it was my own stupidity. I thanked that little voice that told me not to delete the contact, because that was my only saving grace. That evidence took her from standoffish to melting in my arms.And now she was sitting in my car in that motherfucking dress. The one I’d clumsily spilled her drink on, then promptly shoved my hand down.It was possibly the most idiotic move I’d ever made, but also the best.Still, that dress did things to me. It represented weeks of fantasies, and was a reminder of how I had felt that night. How much I loved that night. How captivated I was.“Have I told you how much I love that dress?”Her lips pulled up into that blinding smile, making her light brown eyes sparkle. “I chose wisely. I did notice
Dinner progressed, and I’d never felt the level of connection that I felt with her.We were poking at a piece of chocolate cake when her phone went off with a text message.“Going to check it?”She shook her head. “No. I just want to be here with you.”It went off again. “Might be important.”She blew out a breath and pulled the phone from her clutch. Her brow scrunched as she looked at the screen.“Well, the thought that maybe this was you is now blown out of the water.”“What?”She shook her head. “I’ve gotten a couple of random text messages from an unknown number.”“Well, we know it wasn’t me.” I held out my hand and she set the phone on my palm.After a couple of cursory, nondescript texts there were two new ones.Why haven’t you responded?It’s Valentine’s Day. You’re breaking my heart, baby.“Given your numbers to any strange men lately?” I asked with a chuckle.“Well, there was this one, he turned out to be mostly harmless, but hot as hell,” she teased wit
We never left my apartment on Saturday, with the exception of running to Richard’s hotel to gather his clothes, check him out, and pick up some food on our way back. We barely wore clothes. The entire time we were together, we were either eating or having sex.There were also downtimes where we just lay there and talked.“Seriously, though, I don’t understand why they didn’t get an interim for Nina,” Richard said. We were recovering from our third round of the day, lying in bed and just talking. It felt so good to have that as well as the physical. Conversation wasn’t filled with all fluff thanks to our mutual employer.“Because there was no one. Trent getting fired created a hole and luckily I was chosen to fill it, but it takes an average of six months to fully understand a position, and I wasn’t in it three weeks before Nina was rushed to the hospital.”“Is she okay?” he asked. I wondered if he even knew before the meeting that she was out.I nodded. “She’s doing well,
Days later I was beyond exhausted.Richard made good on his promise, and when he left hours later, I could barely move from my bed. Jenna came over and promptly turned around, telling me I had to clean my “sex den” before she’d come in. At least she left the food.Since then I’d worked twelve-hour days trying to meet VP Bennett’s expectations. While he’d given me leeway with time, I wanted to hit his original date. That way when things came out, it wouldn’t seem like he was giving me special treatment.Though the rumor mill was already running thanks to Jenna’s little outburst, so far most of it was nothing more than the fact that I got pregnant on New Year’s. Richard’s name was left out, but I had a feeling that little fact was running through the half dozen others from management that were in the meeting.After a long day I was finally walking into my apartment, ready to fall asleep, when my phone went off.Thank you for not making me be an asshole to you again—Richard
When the fog of lust cleared, I realized what I shouldn’t have done—mauled Natasha in the conference room. It had made perfect sense at the time, but that was the kind of shit thinking a hard dick could manage.Still…The image of her looking up at me, mouth stuffed with my cock, was number one in my spank bank.“Sorry,” I said as I helped her from the floor.“Feel better?” she asked. Her hair was a mess, lips puffy and pink.“Yes.”“Good, because you owe me.”I quirked my brow at her. Tit for tat with her. “Before or after dinner?”She bit down on her lower lip, and that was when I caught the heaviness in her eyes and the flush of her cheeks. The sight was seductive, and made me want her more.“Or right now?”“You’re early,” she said, deflecting again, though I was certain it was to steer the conversation away from sex.“You were at forty-two hours for the week before you even came in today.”“Did you check my time?” she asked with a quirk of her brow.“Of course,”
It quickly became apparent one Wednesday evening that Richard was not well versed in the world of texting with emojis. In fact, his texting was stiff and lacked a flow.What started off as innocent had me rolling on the floor in laughter, slamming my hand on my kitchen table as I tried not to pee myself from laughing so hard.I miss the sweetness of your lips—RichardThat was the first message that popped up onto my phone as I cooked dinner. It was sweet and made my chest clench.I miss your warmth—Natasha, I typed back.I miss your warmth, too. Especially the warmth between your thighs—RichardI quirked a brow at the screen. Someone was feeling frisky.Perv—NatashaWhat can I say, my every thought is of you, including the very dirty ones—RichardWell, now all I can think of is your in my —NatashaI bit my lip as I stared down at the screen, waiting for his response, but when it came I stared down at it in disbelief.I have no idea what that means. Is that an eggpla