by Emma Nichole
Chapter 15
Piper
“You absolutely do not have to come back for dinner. You know that, right? My mom is just overly excited,” I tell Nathanial into the phone.
He went to the office for a few hours after having coffee with my family this morning.
“And if I want to? The sauce was taunting me this morning. I’d be remiss if I turned down getting to actually eat it.” I can hear a soft chuckle behind his words.
“I just don’t want you to think I’m pushing for something… more… or too fast.”
“Piper, nothing about us is ordinary. Your mother invited me to dinner, and I’d like to come. It means I get more time with you, plus a home-cooked meal. It’s a win-win.”
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me a little nervous.”
“Would you be more comfortable if I didn’t come?” he asks, and I can tell he’s completely serious. He wouldn’t be angry, and he’d never hold it against me.
“No, because I want you to come.”
“I would comment on the very dirty innuendo that is in there, but I think I’ll let it go.” I swear, I can hear his smile.
“I like this side of you,” I mutter without even thinking. It just slips out.
“Which side is that?”
“The side you only show me.”
I can hear a rustling on the other side of the phone before his door clicks shut.
“Where are you right now, Piper?”
“I’m in the back office at Kingston’s, taking a bit of a break.” I shift a little in the chair I’m sitting in behind the desk.
“I never got to say that last night was… fucking incredible. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”
“I was worried you’d regret it.”
“Who could regret having the honor of burying themselves in that sweet pussy of yours? Nah. I could never regret watching your back arch at my touch or your nipples pebble when I pinch them. As if anyone could regret feeling your pussy trembling around my cock when you come like a good girl for me. I’ll never regret it for as long as I’m breathing, Piper. I want more of it. As much as you’ll allow me to have.”
My body literally shivers and my pussy clenches tightly.
“Wow. I… wow.”
“You don’t have anything to say to that? That’s a new one. You’re normally the first one to snap back with a smart-ass remark. While I normally appreciate that about you, there is something fucking hot about rendering you speechless.”
“I’m too distracted by the fact you just made me nearly come with words in the middle of my mother’s office.” My cheeks are heated, and I can feel that flush spread down my neck and chest.
“Touch yourself,” he demands, as easily as he would ask me to get him coffee or prep an email for him.
“What?”
“You heard me. Touch yourself.” His tone shifts to something much deeper… darker.
“It’s because you’re in the office and that place makes you edgy,” I goad him.
“You’re having a bad day. I’m trying to distract you. Now shut the fuck up and touch your pussy, Piper.”
If anyone else spoke to me that way, I’d hang up the phone and promptly march my ass to wherever they were and give them a swift kick to the balls… or vagina. I don’t discriminate. But with him, it makes me weak in the knees.
“Tell me exactly how.” I peek over my shoulder through the glass window that is part of the office door. No one is around. Everyone is up in the kitchen prepping for the dinner shift.
“Ms. Kingston, are you trying to have phone sex with me in the middle of day?” he teases.
“First of all, you started it. Second of all, you went down on me in the middle of the day, and third of all… you’re running out of time here. We could be interrupted any second.” I peek over my shoulder again.
“Slide your hand down the front of your panties and lay your palm flat against your mound. Don’t add pressure. Don’t let your fingers roam.”
I can hear him swallow a knot that must be forming in his throat, followed by the rustling of material. His tie maybe? Is he loosening it?
This is exciting him as much as it’s exciting me.
“Okay.” My words are a whisper as I obey his request, letting my hand graze down my stomach and into the front of my jeans, cupping my sex, imagining it’s his hand. The instant urge to grind against my palm is real.
“Are you wet for me?”
“I don’t know. I’m not allowed to explore, remember?” I say with a grin, because I don’t even have to feel anything to know that I am.
Just his voice does that to me lately.
“Good girl. Now, leave your hand as it is, but roll your hips, pushing your clit into your palm.”
As soon as a miniscule amount of pressure is applied, I moan softly into the phone.
“Christ, Piper. That sound.”
“Hurry back here, get through this dinner with my family, and you’ll have it right in your ear if you want.” I continue to roll, fucking my own palm with my eyes closed, thinking about him and his taut, hard, perfect body over me.
“I’ll fuck you right in my car before we even leave the parking lot. I won’t be able to wait.” His voice has grown husky and breathy.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying like hell not to jack my cock in my office like an animal.”
“I want you to. Do it. Please.”
“Beg me, Piper.”
My legs begin to tremble. An orgasm is already on the cusp.
“Oh please. Fuck your fist, Mr. Lennox. For me.”
Knock knock knock.
“Pipes? You okay in there?” My brother’s voice sounds from the other side of the door.
“Holy shit!” I scramble to pull my hand out of my pants, dropping my cell phone in the process. “Fuck. Fuck. Yeah. I’m okay. I’m coming.” I cringe at the unintentional play on words.
“What’s going on? Why is the door locked?” He rattles the handle.
I scoop up my phone and hold it close to my chest, and I yank the door open to reveal Oliver standing on the other side.
“I had a uh… work call. A client. Mr. Lennox was in a meeting and he had questions. I didn’t want to be disturbed.” The lie flows easily off my tongue but I’m not sure he buys it.
“A work call? Clients? That sounds like bullshit, Pipes, but honestly I’m not even gonna push. Ma needs your help up front with the computer system. You installed it, I figure you’d know best.”
“Yeah. Tell her I’ll be right there. Just let me wrap this up.” I motion to the phone still clutched against my boobs.
“All right. And just between us… I actually kinda like that Nathanial guy. He made you smile.” He gives me a tap on the head, like he has always done since I was a little girl before leaving me alone again.
I wait until the coast is clear then pull the phone back to my ear, instantly hearing laughter.
“Are you laughing at me?” I ask in a huff.
“I would have killed to see your reaction to getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar… literally.”
“Ha ha. Funny. As I’m sure you heard, my mom needs me. I’ll see you later?”
“I did hear, and yes… I’ll be there at seven on the dot.”
“Okay. Have a good afternoon. I’ll have my cell if you need anything.”
“Hey, Piper?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m glad to know I can make you smile.”
He heard what Benjamin said… and here I am… smiling again.
We end the call and before I can even shove my cell into my pocket, it buzzes with a notification.
I unlock it with my fingerprint and see a response from Ida.
Piper,
If I were a licensed therapist, you’d be all I’d need to stay in business!
I say that with all the humor, by the way.
What I will say about this is, if you are happy�
�� stay the course.
There is no harm in a little exploration and fun.
Just protect your heart.
It’s easy to fall straight to the deep end without a life vest.
I’m hoping you can swim.
Ida
Oh, Ida, what impeccable timing you have.
***
“Is Nathanial still planning on coming tonight?” my mother asks, as we roll up silverware into cloth napkins at a booth in the corner.
“He is, but my question is why did you even invite him? Not that I don’t want him around, but it was a little aggressive on your part, don’t you think?”
“You can’t blame a mom for trying, though I do have questions about him.”
I have to fight to suppress my outward groan of exasperation. “Okay.”
“Lennox. So he’s your boss or at least related to one of your bosses?”
“He is the boss. He has been ever since his father retired.” I place a fork, a spoon, and a steak knife on the corner of a napkin, and without even having to pay attention, I roll it into a perfect burrito. I used to help do this nightly when I was a little girl. If I couldn’t help in the kitchen, my parents put me right here, in this booth to roll silverware.
“Have you heard anything about his father then? I know you were sad when he retired last year.”
“Not a thing. Nathanial doesn’t talk about him, ever, and when anyone brings him up in the office, he kind of shuts down. I’ve learned not to mention it. They don’t have the best relationship from what I gather from context clues.”
“So Nathanial hasn’t always worked for Lennox Publishing?” She starts to stack the rolled utensils into the container we house them in behind the bar.
She’s trying to talk about anything except the elephant the room, and I can’t say I blame her. She’s finally at the end of her rope. I can see the stress in her eyes, so I oblige her and keep the topic where she guides.
I shake my head. “No. He is an architect by trade and he owns NCL Properties.” I can see the confusion in her eyes, so I explain further. “It’s a real estate development company. He buys, demolishes and rebuilds property then sells it for a profit. Apparently, he’s very skilled at it. One of the best.”
“Then how is he qualified to run Lennox Publishing? Doesn’t seem like an architect would know the ins and outs of books.”
“I haven’t really talked to him about that, but I don’t think Mr. Lennox would put him in charge if he couldn’t do it. He does a nice job, even if he’s a bit brash sometimes.”
Brash? That’s the understatement of the year, Piper. He can be an absolute asshole more than he’s “brash.”
“You had proven your worth many times over to his father before he left. I’m honestly surprised he didn’t move you to a higher position instead of bringing Nathanial in.”
“What? No. I’m not qualified to run a publishing house, even if it’s only temporary.”
“That’s the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard, and you know it. You have a literature and a business degree. You’ve loved books your entire life. What makes you any less qualified than anyone else?”
I let her words sink in for a moment. From the moment I accepted the job at Lennox, it was always my goal to move up the ladder within. I love the staff and the type of publishing they specialize in. Does it need a facelift and modernizing? Yes, and I have ideas, but I’m an assistant. It’s not my place to speak up, and certainly not to Nathanial, even now that our relationship, personal and professional, is evolving faster than I could have ever prepared for.
Nathanial
Today was going too well, even with the horrifically stressful situation happening with Mrs. Kingston. I have felt too centered, too happy. It was only a matter of time before something shot that to hell.
“Hello?” I answer the call over Bluetooth in my car as I drive over the Brooklyn Bridge in the height of rush-hour traffic.
“Nathanial.”
My father’s deep, gravelly voice makes every muscle in my body tense.
“Dad.” It’s all I can say because I cannot remember the last time he and I had a conversation that my mother didn’t mediate.
“Would you like to explain what you were doing in my office without permission today? Off hours, might I add? What are you trying to pull here?”
As if I needed anything else today, the universe lays this in my fucking lap.
“Dad, you know that I work there now. We told you this months and months ago.”
“That’s bullshit. You’re not welcome there.” His tone is volatile and angry.
“Where is Mom? You need to put her on the phone now.”
“Don’t worry about your mother. I am talking to you. I don’t need her butting her nose into business.”
“Carlson?” I hear my mother call out on the other side of the phone. “Who is that?”
“Your son, who is about to explain why he broke into my office on a weekend.”
I grip the steering wheel tightly. “Dad. I didn’t do anything. Calm the fuck down.”
I know I shouldn’t be this hard on him, but my patience level where he is concerned is slim.
“Don’t talk to me like that, you little shit.”
I don’t need to hear anything else. I click the end button on my steering wheel.
Dealing with my father now is like spinning a wheel on a game show. Some days, you’ll land on calm and understanding. Others, you’ll get horrific and cold.
But today, I was lucky enough to land on the version who never told me he loved me once in my entire life.
***
I wish I could say I have calmed down by the time I find parking outside of Kingston’s, but that would be a huge fucking lie.
I’m on edge, completely amped up and in a horrific mood.
I pause for a moment, once the engine is off, and release a heavy breath in the ringing silence of my car.
There is no one in my life who can rile me up the way my father can. He makes my blood boil fire hot and I become a different human being.
I let my eyes drop closed, trying so hard to find some kind of calm before I go in there with Piper’s family, who have never done anything to deserve my rage.
Honestly, I’m almost there until I receive a text message from my mother, asking me to please stop fighting every time we speak, because I will regret it when my father isn’t here any longer. As if I have any control over that. I’m not going to allow him to speak to me however he wants just because he’s sick.
I stare at the message, my father’s sickness descending like a dark cloud over my head, when a rapid knock on my driver’s side window startles me back to the here and now.
“Jesus Christ.” I turn my head to see who it is and I’m met with the perfect, beautiful eyes of Piper Kingston.
“Gonna sit in there all night, or are you going to come inside?” She smiles sweetly at me, arching her brow in that way she always does.
I roll down the window and try my best to shut everything else out except her.
“Is there pasta?” I ask, knowing the answer, but wanting to keep things as light as possible.
“Does Bradley Cooper have the voice of a god?”
“Um… should I know the answer to that question? Because I have to say… I do not.”
“The answer is yes, Lennox. The answer to both of those questions is always yes.”
She opens my car door for me and I climb out, instantly wrapping her in my arms and breathing in her scent. She smells like sweet vanilla and a hint of garlic. I let it swirl into my nose and sink into my soul as much as I can allow, but it doesn’t heal that boulder forming in the pit of my stomach.
She must sense that. “Are you all right?”
“It was a long day.” I don’t divulge more than that. I don’t want to talk about it.
“Are you sure that’s it? Because I can tell that it’s not,” she pushes.
I take a step back from her. �
��Piper, I said I don’t want to talk about it. Stop pushing. I know you won’t, because you never do, but right now… stop pushing.”
Honestly, I don’t mean to be as harsh as I am, but everything is on high alert and has me teetering on the edge of an explosion.
“I was wondering when you’d be back.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was wondering when the part of you who’s an asshole would show his face again. Now come on. Mom made lasagna for you. Maybe try to find the guy I saw this morning and leave the other bullshit at the door, because whatever it was has nothing to do with us.”
She crosses her arms over her chest and stalks across the street toward the restaurant without me, but I shove my hands into my pockets and follow closely behind with her words ringing in my ears.
The dinner service is moving forward at full speed when I step back into Kingston’s, a stark difference from the emptiness that was present this morning.
Every table is full, save for a large booth in the back corner. Every patron is smiling wide, talking, drinking wine, gorging on pasta, and Mrs. Kingston is making her rounds, speaking to each and every person. To the right, I see a group of college-aged twenty somethings, having drinks and dinner, clearly enjoying their time here, and on the left, I see a family with three small children in tow, each covered in pasta sauce, but smiling ear to ear. I can see why this place means so much to this family. It feels like home here.
And they are going to lose it because of something beyond their control. Because of the mistakes of a dead man who isn’t here to make things right. His choices are crippling them from beyond the grave. If I were in their position, I’d want so badly to hate him, but he was the patriarch of this family, the one holding them together… so I wouldn’t be able to.
“We have a table back here. Come sit. Beer? Water? Wine?” Piper asks me, pulling me from my train of thought.
“I have a feeling your wine selection is stellar, but since we know you aren’t a wine lover… how about a bourbon on the rocks and one for yourself?” I tell her.
