Off the Cuff

by K. I. Lynn

  It was a new day, and a new attitude. Seeing Ryn reminded me why I said no to Thane, and I vowed to tell him this week. I just had to get back into his better graces.

  For once, I actually arrived before him, and a few minutes before eight. Just as I set my bag down, I caught sight of him out of the corner of my eye.

  He didn’t glare at me when he saw me, but he didn’t smile either. It was a neutral glance and that gave me hope that the week would be better than the one before.

  “Good morning, Thane,” I said as he passed me.

  He stopped and turned toward me. “Roe?”

  I tilted my head. “Hmm?”

  “Say it again.”

  A smile broke out on my face. “Good morning, Thane.”

  He gave me a small, warm smile that was encouraging. “I like that. Keep it up.”

  I blew out a breath, happy that something so small could make him smile at me again. I still wasn’t ready to tell him about Kinsey, but I also couldn’t stand for the wall of last week to be between us any longer.

  An hour later I tried to stifle a yawn, the back of my hand covering my mouth as I let out a high-pitched sound.

  “Those are contagious,” Thane said from behind me, his mouth opening wide, unable to stop a yawn from moving through him.

  “Well, if you were at your desk where you’re supposed to be, you wouldn’t have even noticed.”

  “Maybe, but I came with a request.”

  “And that is?”

  “I have a conference call in twenty minutes I need to get ready for, and I need something stronger than the piss water that comes from the break room. Can you please get me a cappuccino from downstairs?”

  I stood and blinked at him. “Did you just say please?”

  His brow furrowed. “I say it all the time.”

  I shook my head. “Not to me.”

  He pursed his lips. “Are you sure?”

  “Oh, I’d know if that word ever came out of your mouth.”

  He stepped closer. “Forgive me for that.”

  I turned to him and drew in a shuddered breath. Spice, grapefruit, and musk invaded my senses whenever he was near, and it made me want to walk right into his arms. Every single day I was nearly taken out by his scent, even the week before when we barely interacted.

  I was kidding myself. Every day I was nearly taken out by him. There was no one factor that beat out the others. No, he was the whole package.

  “You’re forgiven,” I whispered.

  He reached out, the back of his fingers brushing against my arm. Goose bumps rose on my skin, and a shiver rolled down my spine. The buzz of electricity that always hummed between us grew louder.

  “Are you ever going to wear that blazer?” he asked, his deep voice almost a rumble in his chest.

  “When you buy it.”

  “I’m still keeping score,” he said as he stepped back, a twinkle in his eye.

  “Score?”

  He nodded. “You’re winning, by the way. Handily. I just can’t seem to keep up with your wit.”

  I stared at him, a bit confused. “I wasn’t aware we were playing a game.”

  “The best never do. Cappuccino, one sugar. Get one for yourself. You look like you need it.”

  “Are you trying to say I don’t look my normal spunky self?” I asked, realizing my mistaken word choice with the charge in the air between us.

  “You know you can’t say words like that to me. I’ll spin it in a completely unprofessional way,” he said with a wink before heading back into his office.

  I rolled my eyes. “You avoided my question, perv.”

  He turned back around, a grin on his face. “You look beautiful, as always. You yawned before I came over, remember?”

  Oh.

  Right.

  I bit down on my bottom lip and nodded. “Cappuccino, one sugar. Got it.”

  Our eyes locked for a moment, and I felt a calmness wash over me that I wasn’t used to around him. With a tap of his hand on the door frame, he retreated back into his office and I headed off to the lobby coffee shop.

  Things were already better and I wasn’t quite sure why, but it seemed that somewhere between my time off and the weekend, the stick shoved up his butt had released. Which was good, because I wasn’t sure how much more of that Thane I could take.

  This Thane, though, I could definitely appreciate more of.

  The week continued with our banter and flirtation back in place, but something still wasn’t quite right. There was an invisible wall between us that fell from time to time, but never went away.

  The weekend was hours away, and I was counting down the minutes. But before I could escape, he called out.

  “Roe, can you come in here?”

  I finished up my thought in an email to Donte, then stood and headed in.

  “Hi.” My smile dropped when I found Thane out of sorts and cursing under his breath. “Everything all right?”

  He shook his head. “I need you to stay late tonight.”

  “I can’t.”

  When his head snapped up, a deep scowl greeted me. Gone was the charming flirt, replaced by the assholian. What had him so worked up?

  “You will,” he growled through clenched teeth.

  My spine straightened as I stared at him with wide eyes. Did he really want to have a day one fight with me?

  Fuck. Fuck, fuck.

  The stress had gotten to me and I was taking it out on her, which was not what I needed or wanted to be doing. And I knew my attitude would activate hers and it was going to be another battle.

  “Or what? You read my contract.”

  “It also states that on occasion you can be requested to stay late.” I needed her to stay late. Worthington was on the verge of finally going through, but I received a call stating that shareholder packets had to go out today.

  No warning whatsoever.

  “With notice,” she stressed.

  “Here is your notice.”

  She wrapped her arms in front of her. “An hour before my end of day is not sufficient.”

  “These shareholder notifications have to go out by eight with the last courier and no later. I was just informed of this. I need you to stay.”

  She ground her teeth together, and while I loved our usual banter, that was not what was happening. Legitimate anger stewed beneath the surface.

  “Fine, but if I do this, I’m taking a break now.”

  The muscles in my shoulders and back let go a small bit of their tension. “Don’t worry, I’ll get some dinner delivered.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not what I’m saying. You want me to stay and help? Then you are going to give me time, an hour, and it’s going to be paid.”

  I watched as she moved to her desk and pulled her purse from the bottom drawer.

  “You never take breaks,” I reminded her.

  “I do today. Keep your panties on and wait.”

  I ground my teeth together as I watched her walk away. What the fuck was so damn important? It didn’t make sense to me. We were losing valuable time that could push us to missing the deadline.

  However, I would rather lose an hour of her help then only have an hour of it.

  Every minute that passed, I stewed until I was focused on the task.

  At an hour and sixteen minutes, Roe was speed walking to my office door. She tossed her purse onto my table and kicked off her shoes before pulling her hair up and twisting it into a bun. There was a slight sheen of sweat on her skin, a few lone beads gathering. Unable to look away, I was enthralled, watching a drop of sweat roll from her hairline, around her neck, then along the swell of her cleavage.

  Fuck, I wanted to dive between her breasts and lick the droplet.

  “Fucking heat wave,” she said as she fanned her face. “It’s mid-September.”

  “Did you have a good break?”

  “I got done what I needed to, if that’s what you’re asking. And I’m ready to get this done now.”


  “Glad you’re finally ready,” I ground out, instantly regretting my tone.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  She folded her arms in front of her. “You can’t give me shit, because I’m here, helping you, when I’m supposed to be somewhere else. Unlike you, work is not my life.”

  “With no boyfriend, I didn’t think you had a life outside of work.”

  “It may not be much of one, but it’s mine, and it includes obligations you can’t even comprehend.” There was conviction behind her words, as well as tears. She wiped them away with her palm, then cleared her throat. “Where were we?”

  Her tears stripped me, tore at my chest. I’d done that, upset her, when I wasn’t supposed to fucking be doing shit like that anymore.

  “Roe… I’m sorry,” I said, holding back the urge to touch her. “I’ve been an ass and taking my frustration out on you the last two weeks.”

  “I noticed.”

  “I’m trying to understand, to process it in a non-asshole way, but I don’t get why you won’t go out with me. Just once.” It wasn’t the time or place, but I needed some kind of answer.

  Her brow scrunched. “You think I don’t want that? Things aren’t what they appear. You don’t know what my life is like, and if you did, you’d run away. That’s why. It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s because you won’t.”

  I froze, staring at her as my heart pounded. She did want me, but she assumed I wouldn’t want her once her secret was revealed, whatever the fuck it was. “You don’t know that.”

  “I do. You wouldn’t be the first that couldn’t handle it, and probably not the last, so… drop it.”

  I desperately wanted to know what secret she was keeping. What it was that she was so convinced would make me bolt? All I wanted was a chance, but I would need to work harder for that.

  By seven, we were almost done with the packets and sharing plates of sushi. Once the courier collected the envelopes, we cleaned up the trash and got ready to head out.

  When they were gone and the tension of the day was over with, the bad vibes between us settled away. I glanced out the window and found the sky to be dark and the lights of the city glowing all around.

  “It’s late. Let me give you a ride home,” I said as I watched her stuff her heels into her bag and slip on some flats she’d pulled out.

  “It’s okay. You don’t have to.”

  “Yes, I do. Where do you live?”

  “Lenox Hill. Upper East Side.”

  I froze as I stared at her. “How long have you lived there?”

  “A while. Why?”

  “I live in the Upper East Side.” It was an upscale area of the city, and I had to imagine a one-bedroom apartment cost a small fortune and would be tiny. Probably the size of my first apartment when I moved to New York.

  “Oh great, so you’re telling me you invade my personal sanctuary outside of work hours?”

  Her lip twitched up, and I finally believed she was no longer angry at me for making her stay late. Good. Of course, not being an ass probably helped my case, as well as airing out the tension.

  As much as I loved to argue with her, I didn’t like the stones that settled in my stomach when she was legitimately angry.

  Living in the same neighborhood could definitely have some advantages. Maybe I could figure out why she was so set that we couldn’t work, let alone go on a single fucking date that didn’t involve me tricking her into lunch.

  “Technically, you invaded my sanctuary. I’ve lived there for four years.”

  “Let me guess—one of the high rises?”

  I grinned at her. “The twenty-ninth floor.”

  She nodded and stepped forward, our bodies inches apart as she looked up at me. My hands instinctively settled on her hips as I stared into her eyes. She didn’t push them away, her palms resting against my chest.

  The atmosphere around us shifted, and it took all my strength to resist kissing her.

  “This is not me invading your space, by the way. I’m an LH girl for life.”

  Life? “What brought you to Lenox Hill?”

  “My parents, when I was born.”

  “You grew up there?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Seventieth and Second. Then after college I got a studio apartment with a loft up on Eighty-Third with my ex-boyfriend.”

  “Studio with a loft, that’s not bad.”

  She shook her head. “By loft, I mean there was a space above the kitchen to throw a mattress into and literally crawl into bed. Then last year I moved down First Avenue.”

  “Why didn’t you move someplace cheaper?” I asked. Granted, after I graduated, I stayed in Manhattan as well.

  “Jersey or Brooklyn or Queens? I’m a Manhattan girl. Lenox Hill just has this down-to-earth feel. It surprises me you’re not on the west end closer to Central Park. What brought you to my neighborhood?”

  “I like the area.”

  “Me too.”

  “And I like it even more knowing you’re there.”

  Her cheeks turned pink and she bit down on her lower lip before stepping out of my arms. “We should go,” she said. I couldn’t stop watching the harsh rise and fall of her chest.

  Stepping forward, I cupped her face with one hand and pulled at her waist with the other. She drew in a sharp breath right when my lips met hers.

  There was no pushing away, no angry outburst, just a soft moan that moved from her to me. Pure, utter perfection. All I wanted to do was devour every inch of her. It took all my strength to pull away, but I managed.

  “We should go,” I said, mimicking her own words.

  She nodded in agreement before walking back over to her bag and grabbing it and her phone. I put my hand on her lower back as we walked, desperate to feel her close.

  The traffic had thinned out, shortening what I knew to be a longer drive and leaving me with less time with his spicy scent filling the small space of the car—the kind of scent that had me wanting to rub up against him. I was able to control myself when at the office, but being so close to him, staring at his hand resting on the gear shift, it was difficult to keep myself from climbing into his lap and pressing my lips to his. Or putting my hand on his crotch to tease him to hardness.

  These were thoughts that were not supposed to be going through my mind, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

  “This is me,” I said, pointing to a five-story brick building with a self-proclaimed best pizza pizzeria, a laundry, and a sushi place occupying the first floor. To their credit, the pizza was really good. Even better as leftovers after a night of drinking.

  “Which one?” he asked as he swooped into a spot against the curb.

  “I don’t know if I should tell you. You might try to sneak over in the middle of the night and take advantage of me.”

  His tongue peeked out to wet his lips as they drew up into a grin. “I don’t know where you got that idea, but it’s a damn good one.”

  That small movement proved to be too much for me to handle.

  I grabbed his neck and pulled his lips to mine. It was instinctual, and I could see the surprise in his eyes before they closed. A small moan left us both when our tongues met. When his hand slipped behind my back, I retreated. It was already escalating too much, and there was no way I could invite him up.

  “If you’re a good boy, maybe I’ll tell you one day.”

  “Tease. You know I could just knock on every door until I find you.” I believed that he would.

  “Patience, Mr. Carthwright. Good things come to those who wait.”

  “If it gets your lips around my cock, I’ll be the best boy in the office.”

  “Keep dreaming,” I said with a wink before exiting the car. “Only boyfriends get those.”

  “It will happen. You will be mine.”

  My heart began to race at the determination in his words. “Goodnight, Thane.”

  He grinned at me. “See you later, beautiful.”

  My whole bod
y felt charged, and I missed him the moment he sped away. A tingling lingered on my lips, and I couldn’t keep the smile from my face as I entered my building. He was persistent, which I was enjoying, but my heart sank every time I remembered he’d run as fast as he could the moment he found out about Kinsey. After grabbing the mail, I ran up to the second floor and knocked on the door to apartment one.

  A few moments later, the door creaked open and I was greeted by a sweet smile. “Roe. Good gracious, they worked you to the bone tonight.”

  “They did. Thank you so much for helping me today,” I said as I stepped in, my gaze searching out my nugget.

  “No problem, dear. She made my evening.”

  “Hey, chubby cheeks,” I said with a smile. My heart settled when she crawled over to me, baby talking in high-pitched squeaks.

  “Ma, ma, ma, ma,” she babbled.

  I scooped her up in my arms. “Were you a good girl for Mrs. Walsh?”

  She kicked her feet in excitement.

  “She was a doll, as always.”

  “Thank you so much for your help.” I leaned over to pick up her diaper bag. “Say bye-bye,” I said to Kinsey. She waved her open hand at her. “Thank you again.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetie. See you later, Kinsey.” Mrs. Walsh blew Kinsey a kiss and waved her arthritic hands.

  I probably thanked her too many times, but she really saved me. It wasn’t often I asked for her help, but the few times I had, she was always willing. We had a barter system going, and I knew a list of items she needed would show up under my door in a day or two. I didn’t mind helping her at all and would have done it even without her help with Kinsey.

  Kinsey waved back as we turned toward the staircase. “You ready for a bath?” I asked. I kissed her forehead, loving her giggle in response. “We’ll get your little blue doggy. You’d like that, huh?”

  We headed up the stairs, and I was hoping she would be out after her bath because I was dead tired and it was already past her bedtime.

  “Roe,” a familiar voice called out when I reached the landing.

  In front of me stood Ryn, and my stomach dropped. Why is she here?