by Lynn, K. I.
I chuckled at her description of her brothers. “Which is the one that plays baseball?”
She blinked at me. “You remembered.”
“I’m not sure there’s anything I’ve forgotten about that night. With the exception of the correct order of the last four digits of your phone number.”
“Younger brother. Why finance?” She rolled right into the next question.
“Because football was out and business is king,” I replied without pause. “Same question to you.”
“I love order in numbers.”
“But you have managerial aspirations?” I asked. She was a supervisor, so there was more to it than just numbers.
“I also love to problem solve.”
“Do you have Excel spreadsheets that you use in your daily life?” I asked.
Pink filled her cheeks and she stared at me wide-eyed. Bingo.
“It’s my turn,” she said, trying to divert the attention away from herself.
It was my first time seeing her with what she clearly perceived as a fault. To me, though, it was far from that, just another quirk that drew me in more.
“You do, don’t you?” I asked, taking her hand and pulling her closer. She resisted, the embarrassment flooding her face despite her attempts to hide it from me. “Tell me.”
“Okay! Yes, I have one for all my bills, one for my savings, one for progressive monetary investments,” she rattled off, her expression set in a bit of defiance, daring me to say anything.
“Progressive monetary investments?” That one had me. She was simply too perfect if she was using that as a descriptor for her personal finances.
She let out a huff. “A fancy way of saying forecasting based on my current rate of savings.”
“I’m in awe of you.”
“Stop.”
“Seriously. You amaze me.” I placed a light kiss to her fingers, her eyes glued to mine. “You mentioned wanting to buy a condo on the river.”
“Right! And it helps with that. I really want to put twenty percent down, and it shows me how much I need to save each month to attain it.”
I loved the way she became animated when talking about her spreadsheets and saving money. It was adorable and appealed to my own spreadsheet-obsessed side.
“How close are you?”
She glanced down. “Well, things have changed and I haven’t gotten to reevaluate my finances yet. I may have to put it off another year until after…”
She blew out a breath and swallowed as she looked around the room. A baby changed a lot and was a huge financial responsibility.
“You won’t be doing it on your own,” I said, drawing her attention. “No matter what happens between you and me, I will be there to help.”
The uncertainty I saw in her flew away and she smiled at me. “Why Annex? Football to streaming content?”
It was an odd switch from sports to one of the top streaming content providers, up there with Netflix and Hulu, but that was how things fell.
A chuckle left me. “After my MBA I was a financial advisor for a while, then I was offered a position with one of my clients. Michael headhunted me away after my divorce, and the rest is, as they say, history.”
“Michael Stanton? The president of Annex?”
I nodded. “The very same.”
She seemed in awe. “I’ve never met him.”
“Not surprising. He has a bed in his office, and a bathroom with a shower. I’m not sure he goes home often. I may be married to the job, but he practically lives in it.” And that was why he was three times divorced by forty-five. Wife four was only around for the money.
Her mouth turned down. “That’s kind of sad.”
“How so?” I asked.
“If all you have is work…it must be lonely.”
I blinked at her, trying not to show how her observation was like a knife in the chest. Being with her only highlighted how much I’d alienated myself from even the possibility of a relationship before.
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 with a saucy little smirk.
A groan left me. “That dress…”
She continued on. “I mean, it was a totally inappropriate meeting. He threw liquid all over me, then dragged me into a bathroom and shoved his hand between my breasts.”
I hung my head, my eyes squeezed tight as I shook my head. “That will not go down in history as one of my finer moments.”
She shrugged. “You did get the stain out, and it’s one hell of a story.”
“You really should have at least slapped me.”
“That look of absolute concentration on your face stopped me. You had no realization of what you’d done. Focused on the task.”
I wanted to make an inappropriate comment about how I’d like to be focused on another task right now, like the space between her thighs, but I kept that one to myself. Instead, my fingers flew across the screen.
“What are you doing?”
“Responding,” I said. Once finished, I handed the phone back.
Stop texting my girlfriend. She’s not your baby, she’s mine.
That bottom lip of hers ended up between her teeth again, forming a smile as she read and reread. “That should stop it. Thank you.”
I grinned at her. “You’re welcome.”
We headed out, back to the car, to her apartment. Her hand warmed mine for the entire ride and a sense of calm washed through me.
My intent was to drop her off and go back to my hotel to pine for her. To be a gentleman and not the lust-fueled mess I was that night, and the one my senses were begging me to be again.
After helping her from the car, we walked up to her door as if we were returning from our first date, which technically we were. As we stood there I pulled her close and leaned down, pressing my lips to hers.
A simple kiss. A slow kiss.
One that promptly became hotter and deeper until I was practically holding her in the air. Little mewls of pleasure left her, and I pulled her tighter to me.
When we pulled back, we were both breathing heavily, and I didn’t want to let her go.
“We never finished our night together. Would you like to come in?”
“Yes.” There was no other answer.
I hated releasing her so that she could unlock the door. As soon as we were through the door, I locked it.
“Do you have condoms?” I asked, my hands on her hips, pulling her back to my chest.
“Don’t need them,” she said as she tossed her clutch on a nearby entry table.
“No?”
“I can’t get any more pregnant,” she giggled.
“STIs?”
“Got that checked after our little adventure, and got a clean bill of health. You?”
“Same. Clean.”
“Now that’s over, you’re too far away,” she said in a breathy moan as she placed her hand over the h
ard line of my cock. “And I didn’t get a proper hello from this guy last time.”
I slipped my hand between her thighs, earning a gasp of surprise, and pressed my fingers against her clit. “Ditto.”
I didn’t just want inside her. We did that. I wanted to taste every inch of her, devour her like a starving man. She reached down and grabbed the hem of her dress.
“Don’t,” I said, stopping her from pulling it over her head. “Six weeks of fantasizing about you in this dress. I’m going to be the one to take it off you.”
Her tongue peeked out to wet her lips, and she relaxed her hands down to her sides.
I kept my eyes on hers as I wrapped my arms around her, noting just how tiny she really was, which only aroused me more. The way her chest heaved as I slowly slid the zipper down only amped up the reality of the moment, one I’d been dreaming about.
The weight of the dress shifted, exposing the tops of her breasts. I leaned down and nipped at one soft mound. The top slipped down more and a groan left me when her perfectly pink, pert nipples popped out.
My arms flexed, pulling her closer as my tongue flattened out to capture her nipple. She drew in a sharp breath, her hands grasping at my shoulders. Tiny whimpers left her as I sucked and licked, then nipped before making my way back up her neck to her lips.
“You are perfection, and I haven’t even fully unwrapped you.”
“What are you waiting for?” she asked.
“I don’t want to rush it.” I fell down to my knees and slowly tugged the fabric until it passed her hips. Gravity took it to the floor, but I was enraptured by the curves of her body. Curves that drew me to lean in and nip at her hip, my hands slipping under her panties. A quick tug made her cry out, her hands reaching out to steady herself on my shoulders.
A groan left me as I stared at her pretty little pussy while I blindly lifted her leg out of her panties, but I didn’t put it back down. I hooked her leg over my shoulder and shifted her hips, my thumb brushing against her clit.
She drew in a sharp breath, her hips rocking ever so slightly against me.
“Something you want?” I teased, loving how turned on and desperate she’d become.
“You know what I want.”
“Do I?”
She nodded. “Make me come.”
A growl left me and I nipped at her inner thigh. Fuck, how I wanted to devour her. “Is that all?”
She fisted my hair, pulling me closer to what she wanted. “And fuck me until I can’t walk.”
I could oblige that, and leaned forward to swipe my tongue up her slit. A groan moved through me at the first taste of her and I dug in for more. She was all sweet and musk and that only drove me deeper, taking in every drop, drowning in her little mewls.
I loved the screams that came from her when I sucked hard on her clit. She grabbed my hair hard, but I didn’t relent.
Her legs began shaking so hard she was unable to hold herself up, so I handled the brunt of her weight as her orgasm crashed down on her. Convulsions rocked through her, head back as she cried out.
I slowed down, gently lapping against her sensitive flesh before kissing her thigh and removing it from my shoulder. She slid down the wall until she came to a stop on my thighs.
“Okay, you were not exaggerating your skills,” she said as she wrapped her arms lazily around my shoulders.
I chuckled against her neck. “All you asked was if I can make a woman come.”
“I wasn’t expecting it to be that good, though.” Her arms fell between us and I moaned against her skin, my teeth lightly digging into her neck as she palmed my cock through my pants.
Heat raced through me and a groan crawled through my chest.
“Where do you want to come?” she whispered.
“Inside you.”
I grabbed her ass, holding her close as I stood, moving into her apartment until I found her bedroom. Setting her down on the bed, I started to unbutton my shirt, while she removed her shoes, then she greedily ripped at my belt and slacks.
“Too many clothes.”
A chuckle left me. She was just as desperate as I was. Within seconds she had my pants on the ground and was pushing down my boxer briefs. My dick sprang free, nearly smacking her in the face.
Her mouth popped open as she stared, then blinked at it. I pulled my undershirt off and threw it on the ground, then toed off my shoes to step out of my pants.
“Fuck,” she hissed.
“What?”
She shook her head. “I mean, it’s no wonder I ended up pregnant. I think I just got pregnant again from looking at it.”
That stroked my ego, and it gave a twitch.
I barely blinked before her mouth was suddenly around the head.
“Shit!” I cried out at the sudden surge of pleasure that rocketed through me. I watched as her lips stretched around, her tongue swirling around the tip.
A few more bobs of her head and I gently pulled her off. “I guess I should have specified. I want to come inside your pussy.” I leaned over her until she was forced to lay back and crawl farther up onto the bed. “Deep inside.”
She took my face in her hands and drew me down to her lips as I settled between her thighs. There was no more teasing, no more waiting. I rubbed the head between her folds, then pressed forward.
Fuck! My vision went white at the explosion of sensory overload.
I’d forgotten how good it felt to be bare inside a woman. Warm and snug and hitting every nerve. Each stroke fueled the next. I didn’t care about the burn in my muscles, only about the pleasure of her wrapped around me as I drove us both to the height of pleasure.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her face—the absolute personification of lust.
Our eyes were locked. With each thrust, each keen of pleasure from her lips, her perfection increased.
I slammed my hips into hers, faster, as my balls drew up. Each hit deep inside had her crying out. Her nails dug into my skin, her body tensing. She was coming again and I willed myself to hold back, never deviating from the force of my thrust.
She broke, and her already tight pussy began milking my cock. I couldn’t hold back anymore, and slammed into her. With a growl I erupted. Deep, satiating, and core-deep completeness washed through me.
We were both shaking, and strength left me. I dropped down to my forearms as I tried to regain my breath.
“Can we do that again?” she asked as her fingers lazily drew circles on my arm.
I smiled and nodded against her shoulder. “Hell, yes.”
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, the baby too, but she’s on bed rest.”
“When is the baby due?”
“Around the first of April.”
He nodded, and I had a feeling he was doing some sort of calculation in his head. “And when is our baby due?”
In all our conversations over the past few days, we’d barely mentioned the elephant in the room. A little at dinner, but since then it had been all about us. “September twenty-third.”
He nodde
d, but his attention drifted.
I reached out and brushed his hair from his forehead. “What are you thinking about?”
“Just a few months ago I was home alone having one too many drinks and lamenting my life. Thirty-six with no romantic life, a bad divorce, and no children, and I wondered if that would ever change or if I would spend the rest of my life in this lonely prison I’ve created.” He rolled me over onto my back and slipped down between my legs, his eyes glued to my abdomen. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever be a father.” He gently caressed the skin before placing a soft kiss there. “Thank you.”
“For telling you to just pull out?” I asked.
He nipped at my hip bone. “Smartass.”
I shrugged.
He trailed his lips from hip to hip, his stubble tickling my skin. “Thank you for making me a father. We barely know each other, but I’ve never felt this way before.”
“I thought you didn’t like to talk about your emotions?” Or was it just some emotions?
“Some are easier than others.”
I ran my hand down his shoulder to his elbow. “I’ve never felt this way either,” I admitted. It was true. Whatever we had, whatever drew us together, was overpowering. Impossible to deny. “How are we going to make this work?”
“It helps to have the right number. And it’s just under a four-hour drive. We can easily spend the weekends together.”
“But then what?” The million-dollar question.
He was quiet for a moment. “What’s your favorite color?” He asked as he moved to lay next to me again, propping his head on his elbow.
“Are you trying to distract me from my question? Because it’s not going to work.”
He chuckled. “No, but before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start with the basics. We never finished our game the other night. My favorite color is orange.”
I hmmed as I thought about it, about my happy place. Jenna and I had gone on vacation to the Bahamas two years prior. It was the most relaxed I’d been in years.
“The color of the water in the Bahamas. Swinging in a warm breeze, sipping on a fruity drink, the sun warming my skin, the sand, and the sound of the waves.”
“That’s quite a color,” he said.
“Sorry, it just reminded me of the reasons why it’s my favorite.”
