by Piper Lawson
“I’m glad to see it didn’t hurt that I shrunk your shorts for a year.”
His fingers lifted my chin. “Wait, what?”
I flashed a smile in the dark. “You sent them for dry cleaning. I used to replace them a size smaller.”
“Charlotte…” the threat in his voice didn’t bother me.
“Avery…” I moved his fingers and shifted down his body. “This, right here? This is a weapon,” I purred.
“Now you’re just flattering me.” But he didn’t sound like he minded.
My fingers brushed the head of his cock, and he twitched. “I know what you want. You want me to take you in my mouth.” I wrapped my hand around it. “To lick all the way down here.” I shifted to trail my tongue down the line under his cock.
His hand dropped to my hair, tugging lightly at the strands. Suddenly I wasn’t tired anymore.
I pulled his cock into my mouth, sucking on the head.
“Fuck,” he groaned.
“I like you like this. At my mercy.” My nails scraped lightly down his stomach, and I loved the way he grunted. Like he couldn’t take it.
I took him down the back of my throat, just to feel him flex. Then bobbed off him.
His fingers fisted in my hair, shoving me back down onto his cock. I took him in, working him with my hands and my lips and my tongue. A light scrape of teeth had his hand tightening in my hair.
“Careful, Duchess,” he bit out. I would’ve grinned if I could’ve managed it.
I pulled off for a second, wiping my hand over my mouth as he followed me with his hungry gaze. “I’m in charge now, boss. Get used to it.”
Faster than I thought possible, he had my leg and swung me around so I was over top of him. His mouth was on my pussy, and I shook from the sensation.
I took his cock in and we were competing. Him trying to make me come first, me trying to make him. I had a natural advantage, because I’d already come twice.
Or so I thought.
Somehow my muscles clenched around his fingers, my flesh shivered under his tongue. I sucked harder, my grip on the base of his cock tightening. He groaned against me and I reached for his balls, tugging.
“Fucking hell,” he mumbled.
I knew that was the sound of victory.
I picked up my pace, pulling on his balls and taking him all the way down my throat. Then I pressed a finger farther back, and he exploded in my mouth. I greedily swallowed every drop of him.
He devoured me until I fell over the edge one more time. We collapsed next to each other, exhausted. His fingers rubbed my foot lightly.
“Fuck. How did I know you’d be an ass woman.”
I laughed. “You referring to my secret moves?”
“They’re not so secret if I predicted them.”
“I’ll have to do better next time.”
“I think I need a cigarette.”
My head lifted from the foot of the bed. “You don’t smoke.”
“Law school I did. Almost quit. Bad habit.” He paused.
“I didn’t know you had any weaknesses,” I teased lightly.
“You should. You’re one of them.”
It could’ve been the words or the hint of regret in his voice that had my breath sticking in my chest.
I stared up at the ceiling. It felt like a sleepover, not like we’d just fucked each other’s brains out.
“Does it bother you less now that we’ve actually done it?”
“Yes.” He blew out a breath. “And no.”
I dragged a bare foot along the soft bedspread, thinking. “Because you’re my boss and everyone at Alliance would freak.”
“Because I spent two years telling myself there was no way in hell this was going to happen.”
It’s just sex.
Even if I swore there was a hint of longing in his voice, it couldn’t be more than sex. I wanted to get out of Alliance, survive long enough to get back on my feet. Give myself a new chance at figuring out who I was, who I wanted to be.
He wasn’t the kind of man to be into a relationship.
“The thing about rules,” I ventured, “is they have to be worth following. If they’re not, eventually people will start to break them. Like you with Kenna. Or me with…everything.”
“So if we’re going to do this,” Avery said, his voice warm in the dark beside me, “maybe we need our own rules. Ones worth following.”
I rolled onto my stomach, looking down at him. His damned handsome face stole my breath all over again. “Like what.”
“Rule number one: at the office, this doesn’t happen. At the office, you’re my assistant and I’m your boss.” He reached up to play with a strand of my hair as he considered. “And this doesn’t spill over into weekends. I’m not building you racks for your shoes or shit like that.”
My lips curved. “Deal. That’s two rules.”
“We need a third. Good things come in threes.” His white teeth flashed in the dark, and I wondered if he was referring to the three orgasms he’d given me tonight.
An idea bloomed in my mind. One that I knew was right even as I hated it.
“OK. Rule number three.” I solemnly held up three fingers. “When it’s over, it’s over.”
He shifted onto his elbows, bringing our faces close again. “Meaning?”
I dropped onto my back again, needing even the extra few inches that gave me.
“Meaning when I leave Alliance, this is over. No more anything.”
Avery looked past me toward the window, the light spilling in through the parted curtains. “Done.”
I should’ve felt relief.
It was easy. Foolproof.
I told myself that as he shifted over me, the evidence of his arousal growing again between us.
As he pressed inside me, eyes shining with heat and intensity.
As we came, his teeth in my neck and my nails in his back.
And as he drove me home, walking me to the front door to say goodnight.
The problem?
Nothing that felt that good was ever easy.
22
Physical Love
I was in a coma.
That was the only explanation for why I reached for the phone without checking who it was the next morning.
“Charlotte. It’s Jimmy.”
“Jimmy?”
“Your brother.”
I winced, glancing at the alarm clock. “It’s so early.”
“I’m your brother, even at seven thirty in the morning.”
“I’m not sure that’s true…”
“Did you get the invitation? Can you make it?”
No. No.
My brain was moving even slower than my body. Jimmy spoke again before I could. “You haven’t been home for a while. You could bring Grams with you. Rent a car.”
I stared at the silent alarm clock on my side table. Glanced at the hot pink wall lined with racks of shoes. The pile of clothes on every surface. Nothing gave me an answer. “I’ll think about it, OK?”
“Elise really wants to meet you. She’s never had a sister.”
“I’m not a great sister to have.”
“You are too. Remember when you gave me that alibi after I streaked at the football game?”
“Yeah, well. I owed you for covering for me when I skipped class to make out with Elton whatzisname under the bleachers.”
He hesitated. “I know you had it rough. I got off easy, which was only because you protected me. Matt never cared.”
I blew out a breath. “It’s fine. Every family has its favorites.”
“It’s not fine. And I still wish every day you hadn’t left.”
Emotion swelled up inside me, catching me off guard. “I miss you, Jimmy.”
“I miss you too. We all do. Even Mom, though she won’t say anything.”
My head dropped back. “I’ll try, OK?”
“I’m going to put you down as a yes. We’ll set a place for you. You’ve got a few weeks
to figure out how.” I felt my lips curve without permission.
“Thanks. Do you need anything done for the wedding? I’m not sure if I can come, but I could help you out. From a distance…”
“You can help by coming.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
I dropped the phone on the duvet and pushed out of bed. My muscles complained before my feet hit the floor.
You know that old song, “Love Hurts”? I get it now. They don’t mean emotional love. They mean physical love.
I had wounds. Scars. Bruises. From fucking Avery Banks.
Last night had left me sore. And weak. Which was why I hadn’t told my brother no.
I got up and showered, cleaning the last of Avery from my body. Then I threw on some casual clothes and stumbled down to my favorite coffee shop to line up details for my trip with Grams. When our flights and hotel were sorted out, I worked on BBB.
Once I’d set up posts for the next week, I shifted back in my seat and watched people pass the big window.
I’m not the kind to go clingy and text “how are you?”s and “was it good for you?”s. But damn, I wanted to how he was.
If he’d woken up wanting more.
Still, two bites into my second cookie, I was surprised to see my phone light up with a text.
Avery: Wanted to make sure you recovered
Avery: From the gala
I couldn’t help the smile the pulled at my mouth.
Charlie: I’m pretty tired. From the gala
Avery: Are you sore
Charlie: From the gala?
Avery: From the gala
I burst out laughing. A woman at the next table looked over, but I ignored her.
Charlie: Yeah. It was a big gala
Avery: OK. I just wanted to check on you
Avery: No weekends
Charlie: Right
Avery: See you Monday
Instead of thinking about Avery, I hung out with Payton and updated my Grams on the trip we’d take together. I also considered my brother’s request to go home for the wedding.
There was a wave of self-congratulatory emails circulated amongst the gala team, starting with one from Redpath saying it was “everything he’d expected.”
Even Mallory had a smile on her face in the eight am debrief meeting Monday morning.
Toward the end of our meeting, I felt tingling down my spine. My head jerked up like I’d heard a sound no one else could.
It was the sound of my boss getting off the elevator.
I watched him come down the hall, fingers working his phone like they’d worked me Friday night. He glanced up toward the cubicles like he was looking for me. Frowned when I wasn’t there.
Charlie: Looking good boss
He glanced around, stilling when his gaze found mine.
Not in the office.
No feelings.
When it’s over, it’s over.
Looking back, the rules had seemed stupid. Now, I realized just how important they were.
It was eleven when he appeared over the wall of my cubicle. “Charlotte? Would you grab me something at the deli down the street?”
I glanced up from my work. “It’s early for lunch. Can I get it in an hour?”
Avery’s jaw tightened, and the expression on his face made my whole body tingle.
“Fine. I can get it in ten minutes.”
It was fifteen when he walked into the deli. I abandoned the line, glancing around before following him to the bathroom.
I locked the door.
He backed me against it, dragging up my skirt with impatient hands. “How was your weekend.”
“Nice, thanks for asking.” I jerked down the zipper and opened his belt. “You?”
“Long.” His voice was tight, and urgent like his fingers when they found their way between my thighs. “My weekend was long.”
Avery rocked into me until we both came, groaning.
It would be totally normal for people at work to be suspicious, to catch on, given the different way Avery and I were acting this week. But Avery and I’d never been normal.
“Charlotte, get me those files.”
“Avery, do it yourself.”
“Brat.”
“Dick.”
Later in his car…
“Shift over. I need in deeper.”
“Oh fuck, I want your cock.”
“Brat.”
“Dick.”
Followed by a chorus of moans the parking garage barely contained.
It didn’t feel like sex. It felt like bouts of orgasmic gymnastics.
Bridging those moments together were others. The kind you could only have when you were scrambling out of, or into, your clothes. When I’d make a joke, and he’d shoot me that wry grin he seemed to reserve for me. Or he’d zip me back into my dress, taking care with the zipper like he was afraid it would break.
When he breezed into work Thursday morning, he called me into a conference room.
“Good morning, Avery.”
“Charlotte.”
He sat at the end of the table, and I took a chair on one side. The glass wall that divided us from the hallway wouldn’t hide anything, and I raised a brow. “Interesting venue choice.”
“I thought it might help keep us focused.” He opened his notebook computer and pulled open a window. “Check this out.”
I peered at the screen that included a bunch of blank lines. “This is your program? How does it work?”
“Type something in. Like an industry. Say biotech.”
I did. Up came Ivan Litchfield’s name. “Oh! That’s great.” I clicked on it, and it pulled up reams of information. An encyclopedia of the guy’s life and work. “But why is there only one record? I mean, we must have more clients in biotech.”
Avery frowned. “Because Redpath’s still gunshy when it comes to sharing client data. He’s worried something like Hollister’s going to happen again. The problem is, we need this if we want to grow our business.”
“So what if Redpath won’t let you use it?”
“Then we’re basically screwed.”
I shifted back in my seat. “So Redpath won’t let you test your program because he’s worried about access to client data.”
“Correct. Sales teams are taking a hit, and it’s not just about getting new business. The stunt with the comedian might’ve worked last week, but today, we’re all business. It’s about covering our ass.”
I chewed a pen. “Hollister would’ve loved what you were selling. Redpath wants to protect current clients before we get new ones.” My eyes glazed over as I scanned the output screen of the program. Until my eyes landed on the top left corner where it said “date updated.”
“Wait a second. Your program pulls data from different sources. Does it capture when and how that happens? When people access it?”
“I think so. Everything that goes into and out of this should leave a digital fingerprint. Why?”
“Well, if it tracks who accessed it and displays the history for anyone who needs to know—wouldn’t that prevent unauthorized use? I mean, you could even set it up to flag deviations, right? Like with the expense system—” I remembered what I’d shown Rose last week “—it automatically flags things that are out of the ordinary. You could do that with this, send up a flag for weird usage.”
Avery snapped his fingers. “Yes.” He shifted forward in the chair, his eyes lighting up. “That’s fucking brilliant, if it works.”
Pride washed over me, even as his face fell.
“But there’s no way to test it in time. I’m already over my IT hours allocation. I’d budgeted just enough time to import some real client data—a few thousand records instead of the hundred we have—to demo it for Redpath next week.”
I considered. “I might be able to help with that too. But I’d need to call someone outside the company.”
He looked suspicious. “Charlotte…”
“He’s legit. I swear. I trus
t him. And it’s not like he needs to access client data to do it, right? He just needs to write the code.”
He studied me a long time. “OK.”
I picked up the phone and hit an entry in my contacts. “Hey, Riley.”
“Hi to you too. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“You know about computers, right?”
Avery rubbed a hand over his face, then reached for the phone. I ducked him, shifting out of my seat and crossing to stand by the window.
“Yes. I snap my fingers and nerds come running.”
“We’re building something over here that’s top secret. A way to pull all of our client data into one master file, like a giant stack of virtual Post-its. What we want to do is know who accessed the files and when. Do you have someone who could look at that?”
“Muppet has a background in database work.”
I paused. “Translation?”
“It means we can take a look. Send it over.”
I clicked off, and Avery blew out a breath. “If this works, I owe you.”
“You owe me no matter what.” I reached for the hem of my skirt, tugging it up like I was scratching an itch. But I flashed the top of my thigh-high.
“Are you forgetting our rules?” he muttered.
“No.” I nodded my head yes and his stern expression dissolved into wanting.
“Let’s skip Tilt tonight,” he murmured.
“And do what?”
“You know what. But we can go somewhere else. Change of scenery.”
I fought the disappointment.
He meant to hookup. Because that’s what we were doing.
Still, I had a secret.
I lived for this time with him. Not just naked. Everything in between.
But it didn’t matter that he was fun to talk to. That I liked how seriously he took things. How intent he was on demolishing any problems that stood in his way.
Because he doesn’t need, or want, anyone.
“I can’t tonight,” I heard myself say. “I have plans later.”
Avery opened his briefcase on the table, replacing the sheaf of papers. “With who?”
“Bunch of men.” The case closed with a bang. “Three of them, actually.”
Now I had his attention.
