“Tell me something,” I said when he came over that afternoon and we were floating around the pool. “What happened?”
“I thought I already told you all this. You said you were going to the bathroom, and you were gone for way too long and I came to make sure you hadn’t gotten sick and passed out or anything, and I found you and your social media guru attempting to swallow each other whole against the wall,” Cole told me.
“I meant before that. When Merry first started working for the company, I didn’t exactly want her around. I thought it was ridiculous that Mom even thought we needed a social media consultant, and she aggravated the hell out of me. The first time I met her, I couldn’t help but snap at her. How did I get from there to here?”
“Uhh, because she’s crazy hot?” he said.
“Well yes, but I’m not a damn caveman and can usually control my baser impulses. Especially around my damn employees,” I said.
Cole just smiled at me. “I think you’ve liked her from the get-go and that’s why she annoyed you. Your response to the attraction was to push her away because you’re afraid to let anyone get close to you again.”
I blinked a few times, processing what he said.
“Wow. Being in the mountains with the monks really did clear your mind, didn’t it?” I asked flatly.
“Seriously,” Cole said. “Think about it. You don’t have the greatest track record with relationships. And you’ve managed to keep yourself totally disjointed from anything having to do with a real connection to a woman for a long time. Then all of a sudden here comes this smart, gorgeous woman who’s going to be working in your office. It threw you off your game, and that pissed you off. You’d rather be aggravated at her and convince yourself you didn’t like her than deal with what you were actually feeling.”
“That’s so juvenile. It’s like little kids who pull girls’ hair because they like them.”
“I mean. Yeah. Sort of. But that’s what guys do. You might not be eight years old anymore, but you’re still a guy. You don’t want to face the possibility of getting hurt again, so you shoved her away before she could get close. Unfortunately, you didn’t keep shoving and the attraction won out.”
I still thought it sounded completely juvenile the next morning when I got to work, but I was pretty sure Cole was right. My track record with women wasn’t good, and when I let myself, I could still feel the bitterness of the ones who used me before. I didn’t want that to happen again, and as soon as I saw Merry, I felt a snap of need for her. The attraction was immediate and strong, going beyond just thinking she was beautiful to craving to know more about her. Just that was enough to get my guard up and make me want to push back against that feeling as hard as I could. I didn’t want anything to do with her. If I just convinced her of that, eventually the feeling would wear off.
At least, that’s what I told myself. And yet, here I was. Sitting in the office, wondering what the hell I was supposed to do next. I had to talk to her. That was obvious. This wasn’t a television show or bad movie where we could just pretend nothing happened and go on about our lives to a soundtrack of sappy, watered-down music. We had to be upfront and honest about the situation and talk our way through it. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation. Definitely not one I was excited to have, but one that had to happen. If it didn’t, we’d be stuck in a never-ending cycle of awkwardness.
The reality was, I had no idea what was going on in Merry’s mind or what she might think was going to happen moving forward. I needed to cut off any thoughts at the pass and make sure she knew I wasn’t going to fire her. Even more, I needed her to know I wasn’t going to pursue her, either. Neither one was an option. Mom would strangle me bare-handed if she thought I had it in me to toss Merry aside after something happened between us. But she was possibly also capable of the same reaction if she knew I was as reckless and unprofessional as I had been at the bar.
As much as I didn’t want to think about it, I knew there was a chance Merry could react badly to the whole situation. It was entirely possible she could have woken up, realized what happened, and felt like I took advantage of her. That was the last thing I wanted to happen. Not just because I would never want her to feel that way about me, but also because I didn’t want her to be angry and press sexual assault charges. That was a looming thought that made my stomach turn.
I hung around in the breakroom at the beginning of the day, answering emails on my phone and listening. It was somewhat creepy in that I was all but stalking her, but I wanted to be able to start the conversation as soon as she got into work. The earlier we could get it over with, the sooner the questions would stop rolling through my mind and the tense feeling would leave my stomach.
I heard the telltale sounds of Merry coming in for the day and settling into her office. I gave her a few moments so she didn’t feel like I was just springing it on her when she wasn’t prepared. Not that this was the type of conversation you could really prepare for. When it sounded like she was ready for the day, I got a cup of coffee for her and walked into her office.
“Good morning,” I said.
Merry looked up at me, gasping and jumping slightly. There was a startled look in her eyes, and I realized it was part from me just popping in on her, and part from something else. I hated that. Hated that she felt that and hated even more that it was my fault.
“Hi,” she managed to get out.
“Can we talk?” I asked.
She nodded and gestured toward the chair across from her. I stepped further into the office and closed the door behind me. Nobody else needed to hear this conversation. Brandon was the only other person from the office who knew what had happened between Merry and me, and I doubted her brother was going to spend his first day of work spreading gossip about his little sister and the boss around the complex. I offered her the cup of coffee, and she took it from my hand, being careful not to let her fingers touch my skin.
“Thank you,” she said.
“I’m just going to go ahead and jump right in. We both know what happened at the bar,” I started. She drew in a breath, straightening and sitting up higher in her chair. It looked like she was about to say something, but I launched further before she could get a chance, wanting to make sure she heard what I was planning on saying before she said anything. “I just wanted to say, no harm, no foul.”
That wasn’t exactly the way I planned on saying it, but the words tumbled out before I could figure out a better way.
“What?” Merry asked.
“I mean, nothing is going to happen to you. Your job is safe, your place on the team is safe. No one is going to think about you any differently, mostly because no one has to know about it. We’re just going to chalk it up to too much beer and not handling our alcohol as well as we thought we could,” I explained.
Merry huffed out a soft laugh, and I figured that was good. I had done my job.
20
Merry
That was it. After all the worry and building myself up for what I had assumed was going to end up being some sort of showdown between the two of us, or at the very least, me apologizing profusely, it was all over. The conversation took only a matter of moments, and Quentin had been almost dismissive about the situation. Somehow it had all worked out, and I didn’t even have to throw myself at his feet and beg for mercy. I never even got to the point of attempting to sound logical and in control of the situation. He had swept in and made everything okay. I was speechless and didn’t know how to react. He offered me a smile and headed toward the door.
I watched him go to leave and knew I couldn’t just let the conversation drop. As much as it was a good idea for us to just put it behind us and chalk it up to a one-night lapse in judgment like he suggested, it felt like there were still things unspoken. I needed him to understand how thankful I was that he was reacting that way and also just for what he and the rest of the company meant to my life.
I moved around the desk and took a step toward him.
“Quentin,” I said to stop him.
He turned back around and looked at me.
“Yes?”
I took another step toward him and reached out to touch his arm.
“Thank you,” I said. “I just wanted to thank you again for… everything. Especially for this. I’ve been so worried.”
He nodded, but his expression hadn’t changed. His eyes were locked on my lips, and I watched his shoulders square as he drew in a deep breath. I didn’t have time to think about anything else.
“Fuck it,” he murmured.
There was no chance to respond before he wrapped the arm I touched around my waist and pulled me in close against him. His mouth dropped down onto mine, and he kissed me deeply. The pressure of his arm around my waist guided me backward toward the door, and I heard the click of the lock.
I moved to step back, to gain some space and break the kiss that I knew if I stayed in, I would lose all control because of. But he stepped with me, and our lips never parted. I melted into the moment, aware of only the passion that was rising through my body and the butterflies in my belly. His pulled me up and into him, and I stood on my toes as he lifted me easily and carried me backward. Our movement stopped when we reached my desk, and I reached behind me to push the assortment of pens and papers away.
All rational thought tumbled out of my mind as his lips left mine and trailed down my neck. My legs spread open, and he pushed himself between them and I could feel his stiff erection through his slacks. It pushed against my hot core, and I was suddenly desperate to have him inside of me. I reached up and yanked on his tie, loosening it enough for me to get to the button at his neck. Our lips met again, and I worked my fingers down his chest, opening his shirt with a frenzied need to feel his skin. His hands had reached around me, unbuttoning the button at the top of the dress behind my neck and then pulling at the zipper down my back. The merest touch of his fingers on my spine made me break out in goosebumps. He ground his hips into mine as he pulled on the shoulders of my dress, and I leaned back to let him pull it down. As it fell to my waist, he spared no time unclipping the bra in the front clasp and pushing the cups aside to let my heavy breasts tumble out into the cool air of the office.
My nipples were hard and erect, and he took one into his mouth immediately. I moaned at the warmth and strength of his tongue on my body and arched backward, letting one hand drop to his crotch. I massaged his cock through his slacks and reached for his zipper, pulling it down in one motion and biting my lower lip. Eagerly I slid my fingers inside and found my prize. Grabbing his shaft, I pulled his long, thick cock out of his pants and wrapped my fingers around it, stroking him.
He had moved his mouth to my other breast, massaging the first with his hands, but now he moved a trail of kisses down my stomach. Kneeling on the floor, he reached up and grasped the lacy white panties I wore underneath the sundress and pulled them off before flinging them aside. I opened myself to him, prepared for him to take me there, but he stayed on his knees. Pulling my hips toward him, he dove down into my core, his tongue sweeping over me and eliciting a gasp. I lay back and rested my thighs on his shoulders as he explored me with his mouth and then a finger. At first it gently pushed into my wet pussy, but when he felt how ready for him that I was, he plunged it in, and his tongue found my clit. I writhed on the desk, and my legs clasped over his head as he lavished me with attention, and I felt the wave of an incredible orgasm crashing down over me.
With my legs shaking and my body twisted and clutched in the throes of a climax, he stood, keeping a thumb pressed into my pearl. I closed my eyes and focused on the sensation of the head of his cock brushing against my opening. He pressed the tip into me, covering it with my slick juices, and moved forward. I clutched the side of the desk with one hand and the back with the other as he slowly slid the rest of his thick, throbbing cock into me. I tried to cry out, but the sound wouldn’t come, and I stayed with my mouth open as he entered me fully, stretching me and bringing me to the line between pleasure and pain. He held himself there for a moment, letting me adjust to him, to mold myself around him, and then he slid back and then even deeper inside of me.
His thumb continued to press into my clit, but now it swirled ever so gently, and the other hand cupped my breast, mimicking the motion on my nipple. He began a rhythm, first just easily sliding deep into me, but then increasing his speed so he was slamming into me, pushing against my walls and making me cry out with every thrust. My legs wrapped around him, and my ankles crossed as he fucked me, and I lost myself in my senses. His dark, sultry musk filled my nose as he hovered over me, hungrily taking my breast into his mouth, and I let one hand fill with his hair.
Suddenly, his hands reached around me, one cupping my ass and the other in the center of my back as he lifted me into the air. Guiding me with his hand, he kept me bouncing on him as he stood, and I felt weightless in his strong arms. I let one leg drop to the ground to take some of my weight off him, but let the other curl around him as he started plunging into me again, his cock filling me in ways I had never imagined. But he broke our embrace, stepping back, and I felt the emptiness of my body when he was no longer inside me. I was about to protest when he took me by my shoulders and turned me. Pushing me down into my desk, he bent me over it, and I eagerly positioned myself for him again.
His cock slid along the crack of my ass and settled at my opening before thrusting back into me. I let out a yelp of pleasure at the new sensation, and my eyes rolled back as the impending climax began to build. His thrusts were faster now, more needful, more animalistic as he took me, dominated me, and pressed me down into the desk. One hand slid up my neck and grabbed a handful of hair while the other wrapped around one of my breasts and massaged as he slammed into me. He was curled over me, and I was lost in my orgasm, incapable of thought other than pleasure, of sound other than moans, and his voice broke through. A deep growl as he got faster, harder, more intense. The sexiness of that sound drove me deeper into the unfathomable orgasm, and I cried out again. His voice matched mine, and his body locked up, thrusting one last time deep into me as he came hard. A few more pumps of his hips let him spill into me, and my body milked him empty.
21
Quentin
What the fuck did we just do?
The second it was over, reality sank in. That wasn’t a fantasy or a dream, it actually happened, and I needed to get out of that office as fast as I could. Fortunately, Merry seemed to have the same thought. Without even a word, we disentangled ourselves from each other and got dressed. Just past the door, I heard footsteps of people showing up to work, going down the hallway, getting coffee. They had no idea what just happened. At least, I hoped with everything in me they had no idea. The last thing I needed right now was for anybody at the complex to know that I had just fucked Merry in her office.
I couldn’t call attention to it. I couldn’t make a scene and make anyone notice me burst out of Merry’s office and rush to mine. Not that it would be out of the ordinary for me to be in her office. Everybody knew we had regular meetings to talk about the social media campaigns and the plans for upcoming posts. They wouldn’t see anything strange about us meeting up on a Monday morning to lay out the week ahead. Especially considering it was a race week and we wanted to drum up as big an audience as possible and let people know about the tailgating event we were hosting before the race itself.
And that’s exactly what I wanted everybody to think. When I walked out of her office, I wanted to look as usual and normal as possible so if anybody happened to be in the hallway or caught sight of me on my way to my office, it wouldn’t strike them as strange in any way. Smoothing my hair and straightening my clothes to ensure they looked in place and not like I had just thrown them on, I turned to Merry. This was one of those moments where I should say something. That would just be the right thing to do. But there were literally no words that came to mind.
What would be the right thing to say at that particular m
oment?
“I have a lot of work to do,” Merry finally said.
Thankful that I didn’t have to come up with something clever, I nodded and walked out, smiling at Darren when he came out of the breakroom with a cup of coffee.
“Hey,” he said. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, hoping not to sound defensive.
“You’re usually already in your office nursing your third cup by now. Unless Mom is freaking out, then you’re in the breakroom stealing a cinnamon bun or muffin,” he said.
I forced myself to relax and laugh.
“It’s a race week, so I’m sure she’ll be channeling her very best Betty Crocker by the middle of the day. I’m saving myself,” I told him. “Maybe she’ll make that chocolate cherry cake thing she does sometimes.”
“Text me the second you find out,” he said seriously.
I nodded. “You have my word.”
“All right. I’m going to head down to the track. Do a few practice runs.”
“I’ll be down later to watch,” I said.
My little brother held up his cup of coffee.
“You should grab a cup. You look a little out of it.”
He walked toward the door to the outside, and I continued toward my office, keeping it together, not speeding up or letting my expression reveal anything. I managed to make it all the way to my office before freaking out. I considered that a massive accomplishment. By the time I walked through the door, I felt like I was going to crack. When it closed behind me, I did.
I dug my fingers back through my hair and let out a sound somewhere between a growl and a gasp. I couldn’t believe I’d just done that. That morning when I got up, I was on the brink of completely freaking out because I didn’t know what was going through her mind or what I was supposed to say to her. I’d stood there in the breakroom waiting for her to come to work so I could talk to her about kissing her in the bar. I was so worked up about kissing her, just kissing her, I’d thought about it every second until I got into her office to talk to her about it.
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