by Mia Sosa
“I figured even if you didn’t want to have sex with me, we could share a shower, and I didn’t want you to slip and find yourself impaled on my dick unexpectedly. Most home accidents happen in the bathroom, I’ve heard.”
She shook her head in mock amazement. “I admire that you’re always forward thinking.” After licking her lips, she crooked a finger at him and opened the shower door. “Now get over here so I can be impaled.”
He reached the stall in a single stride. Mesmerized by the purpose in his dark brown eyes, she felt for the wall behind her, bracing for the impact of his body against hers. He stepped in and stood under the spray, but he didn’t touch her. The water saturated his dark brown hair, making it appear black as coal, and droplets dotted his nose and lips. The man tempted her like no other man before him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, her breasts skating over his torso, and angled her face to kiss him. He swooped down and captured her mouth, cupping her ass and grinding against her.
She slid her hands from his shoulders and fondled his balls.
“Ah, baby,” he said against her mouth. “I don’t want anyone else’s hands on me. Just yours. Can you feel how much I want you?”
She whimpered into him. “Yes, I feel it.”
Then he spun her around. “Place your hands on the wall.”
She placed her hands at shoulder height. He stepped closer, so close his dick grazed her ass. He covered her hands with his own and slid them higher up the wall, stretching her so that the small of her back ached from the angle. She forgot that mild discomfort when he swiped his finger along her slit, testing her wetness.
“You’re ready,” he whispered in her ear.
It wasn’t a question but a statement. She answered it anyway. “Yes, I’m ready.”
He bent his knees against the backs of hers and rubbed his cock against her folds. “I’ll try to last, but morning wood isn’t always reliable.”
She twisted her neck and looked him in the eyes. “I believe in you, champ.”
He smiled, and her heart clamored to escape her chest.
Then he filled her to the hilt, a rough entry that sent tingles up her spine and through her core. She gasped from the force of it, and he responded by placing one of his digits in her mouth. She sucked it in tandem with his thrusts as the shower heads pounded water over their bodies.
He chanted his approval in her ear, his voice gruff, needy, and deliciously low. “You feel like everything I’ve ever wanted, and I don’t want to stop. Tell me this pussy is mine, baby.”
“It’s yours, Daniel. It’s yours. Over and over, whenever you want it, it’s yours.”
The vow seemed to flip a switch in him. He grabbed her thighs and pressed his chest against her back, bending her from behind. And then his morning wood made a liar out of him, showing her just how reliable it could be. Like a man possessed, he stroked her over and over, until their bodies shook from the exertion, the delicious friction causing them to cuss and shout.
He snaked his hand around her waist and massaged her clit, the steam, their lust, and the water having a dizzying effect on her. “I’m going to come, Daniel.”
“Let go, baby. I’ll be right there with you.”
“Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes,” she chanted.
The orgasm jolted her, rippling through her body, the pleasure so intense she squeezed her eyes shut and saw spots when she opened them. As promised, Daniel joined her, hitting his peak as she descended from hers.
“You’re amazing,” he whispered in her ear. “And I can’t get enough of you. But you should know one thing.”
She struggled to form words, her mouth, dry and swollen. “What is it?”
“I’m sending you this month’s water bill.”
She wanted her laugh to be genuine, but it wasn’t. Because she was worried about what came next.
* * *
After their “shower,” they walked to a neighborhood café for coffee and pastries. Daniel could tell Mimi wanted to broach a subject and didn’t know how to begin. She kept picking at her nails as they walked back to his place. And when he tried to engage her in conversation, he had to repeat himself before she would respond.
He stopped her on the sidewalk in front of his home. “Say what you need to say.”
Her eyes widened.
The skittishness he saw in her eyes twisted his gut. He’d slay dragons for her. Shield her against anyone or anything that would cause her pain. But the possibility that he might be the reason for her distress damn near broke his heart.
“Sorry. I’m a bit distracted.”
He led her up the steps, sat on the stoop railing, and sandwiched her between his legs. “Talk to me.”
With her eyes squinting against the sun’s rays, she blew out a breath and placed her hands on his shoulders. “We have to talk about the guys.”
“What about them?”
She looked down at him, her expression serious. “I don’t want them to know about us.”
“Okay.”
She drew back and furrowed her brows. “That’s it? Okay?”
“Sure, I understand. For now.”
She pushed against his shoulders with the tips of her fingers. “Will you stop with the ‘for now’ business?”
“Look, I’m just glad you’re willing to admit there’s an ‘us.’ If at some point it makes sense to tell them, then we will.”
“And if there’s never such a point, we won’t.”
He nuzzled her chest. “I’m guessing there will be.”
“I’m guessing there won’t be.”
He drew back and looked up at her. Fuck this. He wasn’t going to pretend he was okay with her flippant attitude. That’s not how this worked. Not given how he felt about her. “Can you stop with the ‘I’m tough as shit and I’m going to pretend this doesn’t matter’ act? If you’re not going to give us a chance, what’s the point?”
She gave him a wry smile. “Good sex?”
He clenched his jaw and blew out a long breath. “I can get that elsewhere.”
Her mouth fell open and she eased out of his embrace. “Nice. There’s the Daniel we all know and love.”
He tugged her back to him. “You’d like to tell yourself that, wouldn’t you? Haven’t I convinced you yet I’m not the guy you thought I was? If you don’t know the real me by now, it’s because you don’t want to.”
She stepped away from him and rubbed her arms as she paced on his stoop.
“You know I’m right. That guy scares the shit out of you, doesn’t he? I’ve never pretended not to want you, sure, but you’ve never looked closely enough to realize that this has always been about more than just getting you in my bed. That scares the shit out of me, too. Because you have the capacity to break my heart, and if that happened, I’m not sure I’d recover. So either stop trying to fuck this up from the outset or move on without me.”
She chewed on her bottom lip as she scanned his face. “I liked you better when you were just trying to get into my pants.”
He stood and faced her. “I haven’t changed. I still want in your pants.” He placed his hand over her heart. “But I want in here, too. I let you in. Now it’s up to you to do the same.”
He held his breath as several seconds of silence passed. Then she rose on her toes and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. That tiny show of affection would be enough to last him a few weeks. It meant that much.
Stepping closer into his embrace, she cradled the sides of his face. “Okay.”
“What do you mean ‘okay’?”
“I want to give this a chance.”
“You’re worrying me.”
She pushed against his chest with a laugh. “Why?”
“Because you gave up too easily, and nothing about you is easy. What gives?”
“I’m trying, okay? But we need to establish some ground rules.”
He groaned and raised his face to the sky. “Here we go with the rules again. You know, for someone who’s so footloos
e and fancy free, your obsession with rules is unsettling.”
She poked him in the chest. “Work is different. That’s why this is important.”
“Okay, what are the rules?”
“We don’t tell anyone about us unless and until I’m ready to.”
He wasn’t surprised by the request. “Fine.”
“That includes the guys,” she said.
“For the record, I think we should tell them now, but sure, if we must.”
“And if we…if we don’t work out, we’ll both do our best to not let it affect our professional relationship.”
“Yeah, sure.”
She poked him in the chest again. “Are you taking this seriously or not?”
He hunched over and grabbed her finger. “Yes, yes. I am. What else?”
“No special treatment at the office. If you think I’m screwing up somehow, tell me, okay? No holding back.”
“That’s a given. The question is, can you handle that?”
She scoffed. “Of course I can.”
Yeah. We’ll see about that.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was official: She was whipped.
After spending a weekend in Daniel’s bed, she’d returned to work with a goofy grin and the worst case of horniness she’d ever experienced. Who knew interval training could lead a man to initiate such inventive sex positions? Shaun T deserved a raise, that’s for sure.
And she couldn’t stop thinking about Daniel. The male orgasm had always fascinated her, but Daniel’s face when he hit his peak was something altogether different, and a joy to watch. He squeezed his eyes shut and bit into his lower lip, slowly sliding his teeth up until he released it. So freaking hot.
She hid her face from Nina’s prying eyes during the Monday morning meeting by doodling on her pad, until she caught herself drawing pictures of her and Daniel in the various sex positions they’d tried. Nina kicked her under the table, glanced at Mimi’s pad, and gave her a “what the hell are you doing?” look. Mimi quickly turned the page and straightened in her seat. Right. This was neither the time nor the place for her to think about Daniel. Not in that way at least.
Ian wasted a few minutes of the meeting berating one of their team members. And then, as he usually did, he turned his attention to Mimi. “What’s going on with the new client? The Cambridge Group, is it?”
Mimi cleared her throat and tried to keep any sign of emotion off her face. “It’s going well. They’re due to appear on a panel at Harvard in a few weeks, and they’ve asked me to join them.”
“On their dime?”
“Yes, they’ve agreed to pay for it. It’s just a day trip anyway.”
“Will there be press?”
“Yes. The student paper and a local. I’m scheduled to meet with reps from both.”
“Good. Anything else in the works, or are you planning to rest on your laurels now that you’ve managed to snag a single client?”
Wow. Asshole. “Um. No. I’ve got a meeting with a potential client this Friday. An interior design firm looking to publicize its work in a unique way.”
Ian didn’t loosen his tight expression. If anything, he appeared more annoyed than before. “Good. Do your best to make that happen.”
Because what? Without that gem of advice, she’d do her very worst to ensure she didn’t get the client? Moron. “Of course.”
Ian ended the meeting, and she scurried out the door.
Nina called after her as Mimi rushed down the hall. “Ms. Pennington, may I have a word?”
Mimi kept walking and called behind her, “Can’t, Ms. Matthews. I’ve got an appointment.”
“Bullshit,” Nina said.
Mimi stopped, spun around, and waited for Nina to catch up with her. “What do you want to know?”
Nina circled her and sniffed the air. “Damn, woman. Why do you smell like you spritzed eau du good sex all over you?”
Mimi grabbed Nina’s arm and pulled her into Mimi’s office. Once the door was closed, she said, “First of all, I showered, okay? But if you’re referring to my unmistakable well-fucked glow, then yes, you are correct, I had sex all weekend.”
Nina waggled her eyebrows. “Oooo, more gossip. Yes!”
“A lady never gossips.”
Nina placed her hand across her forehead as though she were searching for something beyond the proverbial horizon. “Lady? What lady?”
Mimi bumped Nina with her shoulder. “No details for you.”
And that was unlike her. Because she’d often shared her exploits with Gracie and Nina without a second thought—Karen, too, when Mimi could get her to lift her head out of her medical school books. So why the need to keep her relationship with Daniel private? She could claim that he was different because he was a client, making it inappropriate to discuss their relationship with a coworker. But Nina was part of her inner circle, so that couldn’t be the reason.
Special.
He’s special, you idiot.
There. That’s not so awful to admit, right?
Breathe. It’ll be okay.
Nina gave her a dirty look. “Fine. If you want to be tight-lipped about it, don’t expect me to divulge my freakiness.” After she threw open the door, Nina added, “And you’re going to miss some good stuff.”
“I’ll take you to lunch tomorrow to make it up to you,” Mimi called after her.
Nina huffed. “Why not today?”
“I have plans.”
Nina gave her a dismissive wave as she walked down the hall. “Whatever. And you’ll have to do better than lunch to make it up to me. Hope he’s worth it.”
Yeah, he is.
And that scared the shit out of her.
* * *
Daniel made a few adjustments to the PowerPoint presentation and checked his watch. The girls from Brigham Middle School would be here any minute now. He stood and paced his office, running through the schedule for the few hours they’d spend at the firm.
He wanted to make the day interesting for the girls. Though only in its second year, the shadowing program meant a lot to him. In a way, the girls’ visit kept him connected to his sister. Before her death, she’d worked as a math teacher at the school.
His speakerphone buzzed. “Yes, Felicia.”
“Mimi Pennington’s here to see you.”
It took him several seconds to process what Felicia had said.
Mimi? Here? In the middle of the day?
He grinned, but when he realized the implications of her presence minutes before the girls were due to arrive, his grin faded. “Send her back, Felicia.” He quickly took his seat and placed a few reports in front of him, sifting through them for good measure.
She peeked her head in. “Hey.”
His body went still at the sight of her. He’d made love to this woman last night, and he wanted her again. But he couldn’t tempt himself, not when 15 thirteen-year-olds were due to show up soon. “Hey. This is a surprise.”
She stood at the threshold of his office. “May I close the door?”
“Actually, we’re expecting visitors and Felicia’s going to buzz me in a minute.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Okay. Well, I guess this is a bad time. I have a meeting across the street at one, so I thought I’d pop in for a few minutes to say hi.”
He couldn’t leave her with the impression that he didn’t want her here. That wasn’t anywhere near the truth. “Close the door a sec.”
She shut the door and stood in front of it. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. Any other time, this visit would go a lot differently. But if I so much as touch your hand, I’ll want to devour you. And I’m really trying not to get hard before my meeting.”
Her eyes widened, and her mouth went slack. Fuck. Not that.
She advanced a step.
“Stay back, Mimi. Please.”
She snickered. “Oh, this is hilarious.”
He leaned forward and spoke in as low a voice as h
e could manage while being confident she could hear him. “If you like me just a tiny bit, please sashay your ass out of this office and return tomorrow.”
She backed up and slung her purse over her shoulder. “Fine. I suppose we’ll talk later.”
“Damn right we will.”
She gave him a wave. “Ciao.”
His speakerphone buzzed. “Are they here, Felicia?” he asked as he watched Mimi saunter out the door.
“They’re here,” Felicia replied.
“Did you let the guys know?”
“Yes, they’re on their way to the conference room.”
“Fantastic,” he said as he rubbed his hands together.
He looked down at his crotch. And no boner. Even better.
* * *
After Mimi left the restroom, she glimpsed Daniel and the rest of the architects shuffling to the conference room. A group of young girls in school uniforms giggled and walked ahead of them. Hmmm. What’s that about?
Mimi walked over to the reception area. Thumbing her finger at the conference room, she asked, “What’s going on in the conference room, Felicia?”
“Oh, this is STEM day. Science, technology, engineering, and math.”
Mimi hid her impatience. “Yes, I know what STEM stands for. I meant, what are the guys doing in there?”
“Oh, a group of girls from Brigham Middle School visit each year. The guys talk to them about how STEM relates to architecture. It’s part of a district-wide initiative to get more girls involved in science and math. Then the guys take them to lunch.”
Wow, that’s impressive.
And wait. This was a photo op if ever there were one.
She didn’t carry a digital camera, so her iPhone would have to do. With a sheepish grin, she tiptoed into the conference room and sat in a chair in the corner. The men stood in front of a large projector screen while Daniel sat at the head of the table tapping on a laptop computer.
They were going around the room introducing themselves.
Poised to take a photograph of the group, she jumped when Daniel called her name. Only the top of his head and his eyes were visible behind the laptop screen.
She raised her chin. “Yes?”
“No photographs.”
