by Robyn Neeley
“Chocolate with those white-chocolate sprinkles?”
“I’ll place the order.”
She slipped on one stiletto, then the second. “I’ll just call an Uber.”
He moved off his bed and slid on the closest pair of jeans, both pissed and disappointed. He picked up her coat off the back of his desk chair, but flung it on the bed.
The hell with her leaving. He took her in his arms and lifted her chin with his finger, bringing his mouth down on hers. “Stay,” he whispered.
She pressed her palm into his chest. “My ride is going to be here soon. I really should go wait downstairs.”
“Okay,” he said flatly, trying to mask his disappointment. If she wanted to leave, he wasn’t going to beg. He picked up her coat from the bed and helped her into it.
“Thank you.”
Ryan exited his bedroom and flipped on the living-room lights, not sure what to say. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to end. He’d thought his legs would be tangled in hers all night. He should be halfway to bringing her to her next orgasm by now. Damn, he’d even planned to make her pancakes loaded with peanut butter in the morning.
When he reached the door, he turned around and met her eyes. “I guess I’ll see you on Monday,” he said, at a total loss for words.
“Definitely, and don’t forget the holiday party on Tuesday.”
“Right. The party.” The last thing on his mind.
“You’ve got three days to get your Secret Santa gifts.”
He smiled halfheartedly. “I better get on it.”
Sarah glanced down at her phone. “My Uber should be near.”
“I’ll walk you down.” He opened the door, but she motioned him to stop.
“It’s cold. You stay inside. I’ll see you Monday.”
They stood for a few awkward seconds. Kissing her good-bye didn’t seem right given the fact she’d basically admitted this was only a casual hookup that wouldn’t be happening again.
He put his arms around her for a quick hug, leaving a bit of space between them. “Bye, Sarah,” he said and unlocked the door. “If you wouldn’t mind sending me a text that you got home safe, I’d appreciate it.”
She smiled. “I will. Bye, Ryan.”
Once she was gone, he moved back to his bedroom and flopped onto his bed, disappointment racing through him. It was just sex. So what if it was mind blowing? Get over it, because it isn’t going to happen again.
He’d gotten exactly what he’d wanted when he’d rushed out of the restaurant.
But as he pulled up the sheet, inhaling her delicious sugary scent swirling around him, he realized he hadn’t gotten exactly what he wanted.
Not if she still wanted Logan.
…
Sarah propped herself against the door and let out a long breath.
Had she really had sex with Ryan?
When she’d said yes earlier in the week to Logan’s invitation to dinner, never in her wildest imagination had she thought it would end with her standing outside Ryan’s front door at midnight, and everything that had happened in between.
Not at all.
How could Ryan hug her good-bye so formally when an hour ago he was thrusting into her body, giving her singlehandedly the best orgasm of her life?
She closed her eyes, remembering the feel of his warm hands on her body, raw desire in his eyes.
She’d never had sex quite like she’d just had with Ryan. The other guys she’d been with had been quick in bed, but Ryan… Ryan was thorough. It was as if he knew everything she wanted and everything she needed. The way he’d taken his time slowly seducing her—every inch of her. It had been incredible.
That they’d teased each other and shared a couple of laughs in the moment had been new to her, too, and she’d loved every minute of it. She’d never been with a man who didn’t race to the end. No. Ryan had seemed to want her to savor each and every sensation.
Her body had surrendered to everything he’d given.
And for God’s sake, what about when he’d gotten out of bed? He’d known exactly what he’d been doing when he’d slipped on what had to be the sexiest pair of jeans on the planet. A shirtless Ryan in worn denim—yeah, he’d still been seducing her even after the sex had been over.
Damn those rock-solid abs.
It was so unfair of him, and for him. He hadn’t even let her return the need-anticipating favor. Tonight had been unmistakably about fulfilling her needs, but what about his? She bit down on her lip and pushed off the door. Maybe she’d rushed out too quickly.
He’d asked her to stay…
She turned and fisted her hand to knock, but stopped. No good would come of her going back in for round two. Her heart was on the line.
It was why she’d beaten him to the punch, brushing off what they’d done as “getting it out of their systems.”
It would hurt too much for him to tell her again he didn’t do commitment, when this time, he’d mean with her.
What they’d done had meant way more to her than scratching some itch. He’d made her feel both vulnerable and powerful at the same time. Like she was the reason—the only reason—he’d wanted to take his time and be so selfless.
However, when he’d said that there was no reason to bring up what they’d done, adding they’d gotten what they’d wanted, she sure as hell wasn’t going to show her disappointment. There was no way she would admit that what had happened was so much more to her than a simple curiosity fulfilled.
Shaking her head, she buttoned up her coat. Ryan wasn’t looking for anything but a good time. She knew that.
He’d simply given her the Fifth-Quarter Experience she’d asked for.
Chapter Fifteen
Ryan smiled and said hello to Nancy, slinging his messenger bag over his shoulder, trying to act like there was nothing out of the ordinary for his Monday morning visit to Logan’s office.
He’d spent a long weekend dissecting everything that had happened, and he needed to see Sarah and make sure things were cool between them.
Yeah, he wanted to think what had happened was more than a one-night stand, but he realized that she’d basically done to him what he’d done to pretty much every woman since Melanie—let him down easy and hightailed it out of there as soon as she could.
And it sucked.
He’d get over it. He didn’t like it, but this was Sarah. It wasn’t like he could avoid her at work, and he didn’t want to. She’d been right about one thing: their friendship was too important to ruin. He not only liked having an office friend, he liked having her as his office friend.
So, if Friday night was truly about getting their physical attraction to each other out of their systems for her, then so be it. He adjusted the strap to his messenger bag, which held two chocolate cupcakes with white-chocolate sprinkles. It didn’t mean he couldn’t bring her a sweet treat to alleviate any uncomfortableness.
Last night, during their Sunday-afternoon football ritual, he’d asked Bridget to make them, saying Sarah had put in a personal request. Of course, he’d left out the part that she’d done so wrapped in his crisp white sheet, naked.
He approached the office and stopped short of the entrance to Sarah’s desk. She was standing behind it at the copy machine, the deep-purple miniskirt she wore hugging her curves. His mouth watered at the sight of her hair swept up in a high ponytail, exposing her delicate neck. He wanted to kiss that neck. Desperately.
Pull your head out of your ass and stop ogling her.
He took a deep breath. “Hey, Sarah.”
“Ryan.” She walked back to her desk with a stack of papers. “Good morning.”
“You look nice today.”
“Thank you.” She smoothed down her black knit sweater. “I did a little shopping yesterday at Macy’s.”
“I bet there’s a lot of great sales this time of year,” he said and cracked a knuckle. Great. They were reduced to small talk about damn holiday sales. “How was your trip home? You
didn’t text me…um…I mean you got home okay, right?”
“What do you mean her trip home? Didn’t you take her?” asked a familiar voice.
Crap. Ryan turned around to greet Logan. “Hey, boss.”
“Good morning, Logan.” Sarah moved between them, offering to take Logan’s coat. “Ryan meant Sunday. I was telling him about my adventure into the city for a shopping bonanza. I’d accidentally left my wallet in the women’s dressing room at Macy’s, and couldn’t find it for over an hour. I had no idea how I was going to get home with no money to take the subway.” She turned to Ryan. “It all worked out. Someone had found it and given it to a salesclerk. I didn’t have to walk back to Brooklyn.”
“Glad to hear it,” Ryan said coolly, unsure if he was relieved or pissed that Sarah had so easily conjured up a story to cover where she’d been Friday night.
Logan shoved his hands in his suit pockets, oblivious of any weirdness going on. “How are you feeling?” he asked Sarah.
“Great. I’m so sorry about our date. It must have been something I ate.”
“Before dinner?” he asked.
“I had a little snack before I left my apartment.” She handed Logan a stack of envelopes. “Probably wasn’t the smartest idea to soak a stomach full of chips and guacamole with a peppermint martini. I really am sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” Logan flipped through the mail she’d handed him, looked up, and winked. “It just means we’ll have to try again soon.”
No it doesn’t. It doesn’t mean that at all. Ryan slung his messenger bag over his shoulder, making no move to leave. He wasn’t sure what he’d do, but there was no way he was going to let the woman he’d made crazy love to be asked out on a second date by his best friend.
And he’d admit it. She might have thought it was his typical move, but he’d never spent so much time concentrating on fully pleasuring a woman. It had taken a few beers over the weekend and dissecting what had happened with his sister, to get a woman’s point of view, but yep. He’d made love to Sarah.
And fuck. It was unfair that he wouldn’t be doing it again, never mind that Logan might get that opportunity.
He dug his heels into the floor. Fisting his hand, he cracked a knuckle. Not going to happen.
“Hey.” Logan slapped Ryan on the back. “Speaking of second dates. Corrine thought you were great. I gave her your phone number. That’s okay, right?”
Ryan looked over at Sarah, hoping to see “jealous Sarah” from the restaurant leap out of her chair, but her focus was on her computer screen. “Yeah…sure…Corrine was cool,” he said to Logan.
“She definitely can help you with your commitment issues.”
Sarah glanced up. “You should call her, Ryan.”
What the hell? She wanted him to ask Corrine out again? He shrugged. “Maybe I will.” Okay, this conversation was over. He started to change the subject, not ready to leave Sarah and Logan alone, when Nancy came in, escorting an older woman dressed in a long red velvet dress with a white apron, her gray hair up in a bun.
“Mr. Scott, Mrs. Claus is here to see you,” Nancy announced and then broke out in laughter.
Ryan joined the old receptionist with a hearty chuckle, because he knew exactly who was in costume, and it’d been a while since he’d seen her.
“Mom?” Logan asked, giving his mother a hug.
“It’s Mrs. Claus today.” She squeezed his cheek, fully in character, and turned to Ryan, wrapping her arms around him. “Hello, Ryan. I hope you’ve been a good boy this year.”
“I did my best, Mrs. C.” He hugged her back.
“I’m not surprised. Now this one”—she waggled her finger at her son—“I’m sure is an entirely different story. I’ve got my eye on you.”
“You know me,” Logan said with a grin. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m giving out Christmas presents at the children’s hospital around the block. Did you forget that you agreed to help me?” She reached into her huge red bag and pulled out a green felt hat, handing it to Logan. “Here, put this on. We need to go now.”
Logan immediately handed the hat back. “I never agreed to help.”
Mrs. Scott narrowed her eyes. “Yes, you did—on our plane ride home from Florida.”
“I agreed to a lot of things on that plane.” He winked at Sarah and Ryan. “It was a bumpy ride.”
Logan’s mom put her hands on her hips. “You’re honestly going to disappoint all those children waiting to see Mrs. Claus and her chief elf? It’s not like you don’t own this company. Surely, you can sneak out and join me for an hour or two?”
Logan shook his head and glanced over at Sarah. “How’s my schedule this morning?”
“Not good, boss. You have a phone call with a London investor in fifteen minutes that we’ve already rescheduled once, followed by a meeting with our accounting office.”
“Sorry, Mom. It’s end-of-the-year budgets season.” Logan turned with his back to his mother, mouthing, “Thank you.”
“Well, that is unfortunate.” Mrs. Scott frowned. “What about you, Ryan?”
“Sorry, Mrs. Claus. I’m headed to Vert Tower this morning. Your son has me working all kinds of hours.” Ryan added for Sarah’s benefit, “Although, I should be back for a late lunch today.”
Sarah bolted up. “I could go. I’m free all day.”
Ryan blinked. Seriously, Red. He’d basically told her he’d be back to have lunch with her, and she’d taken that as an opportunity to run out the door? So much for her being adamant that things between them would go back to normal.
“I think that’s a great idea,” Logan agreed. “Take the day off and spend it with my mother.”
With Logan’s blessing, Sarah gathered her coat and purse and headed for the elevator with Mrs. Scott, elf hat in hand.
“Think that’s a good idea?” Logan asked, nodding to the two as they stepped into the elevator.
“For you to be without your executive assistant for the day? Probably not.”
He laughed. “You’re probably right, but I meant for Sarah and my mother to spend time together. I mean…if things work out between Sarah and me, and we start dating exclusively, they’d eventually get to know each other. So why not start now?”
“Good thinking.” Ryan bit back the urge to clock his friend. Why couldn’t Logan be interested in any of the other women in the office? He could have his pick of any of the single ladies on the floor, probably the married ones, too. His best friend falling for the girl of Ryan’s dreams was not part of the plan. Sarah’s plan, yes. Ryan’s, no.
“Well, have a good morning at Vert Tower. I’m thinking of joining you later in the week.”
“Great, man. The crew would love it. See you later.” Ryan said good-bye. Once alone, he unzipped his messenger bag and pulled out the container holding the cupcakes he’d promised for Sarah and set it on her desk.
…
Sarah handed the last of the presents to a sweet bald-headed boy who looked about seven or eight, wearing the cutest snowman sweater. He hugged her tightly and then ran over to meet Mrs. Claus, who was holding a tray full of Christmas sugar cookies.
Her insides warmed at all the merriment around her. Spending the morning with Mrs. Scott, wearing the silly elf hat and passing out gifts at the children’s hospital, had been a much-welcome distraction. It had felt good to take a break from obsessing over her situation with Ryan.
It had also been nice to get to know Mrs. Scott a little more. She’d chatted with Logan’s mom countless times when she’d either called or stopped by the office to see him, but it had never been more than polite conversation. Over the last two hours, Sarah had come to realize his mother had a wonderful sense of humor, loved children, and had a huge heart.
And now she knew what the woman and her husband had done for Ryan, too.
She maneuvered over to a table where the staff had set up lunch for them and waited for Mrs. Scott to join her. Her stomach g
rowled as she stared down at the chicken-salad sandwiches, fruit salad, and tray of cookies.
“Wasn’t that a hoot?” Mrs. Scott finally came over and slid into the seat opposite Sarah.
Sarah nodded, adjusting her elf hat. “I don’t think I’ve had this much fun on a Monday all year. Thank you for letting me be your chief elf today, Mrs. Claus.”
“You’re welcome.” She winked. “You were much more fun to get into character with than my son would have been. I don’t know if you know, but acting isn’t his strong suit.”
Sarah snickered because she did know. Logan once had the staff do client-support role-play exercises during one of their professional-development trainings. His playing a pissed-off client had left something to be desired when he’d tried to give Paul a hard time using a thick New Jersey accent that sounded more like a horrible mobster impersonation. “Well, he has other skills,” she offered.
From the raised eyebrow she got from Mrs. Scott in response to that comment, Sarah wished she could reel it back in. She picked up a sandwich and bit down, changing the subject. “Westbrook is lovely.”
“You’ve been to our town?”
“Recently.” Sarah reached for her water and took a sip. “Ryan actually took me to the Westbrook gala. I’m sorry that you and Logan missed the awards ceremony.”
“It was disappointing.” Mrs. Scott laughed bitterly. “Planes and storms certainly don’t mix. We would have much rather been there.”
“You must be so proud of him.”
His mother flashed a warm smile. “I am. His father received the same alumni award when he was around Logan’s age. I was thrilled to hear he was being honored.”
“If it’s a small consolation, Ryan gave a beautiful speech when he accepted the award on Logan’s behalf.”
“I’m sure he did. He’s a special man.” She slid her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Do you know Ryan well?”
Sarah nodded. “I do. We’re office buddies.” She picked up her sandwich. “We have lunch in the cafeteria together almost every day.”
Based on her wide smile, that seemed to amuse Mrs. Scott. “Are you two dating?”
