Compromising Positions

by Jenna Bayley-Burke

She couldn’t talk, not wanting to betray the tear in her voice. Just squeezed him harder and let him have his lie.

  ———

  Sophie flipped a switch somewhere in him whenever she walked into a room. Emotions he usually kept in check easily bubbled up. She touched him and every sense was heightened, forcing him to recognize feelings he’d rather leave buried.

  Looking at the picture was different with her there, her arms wrapped firmly around his shoulders. His father’s words thundered in his ears. That brief moment of being loved is worth any pain you have to endure at losing it. How could that possibly be? He was in too deep to let her go now, if she got pregnant and he lost her… He pried her fingers away. That could never happen. He simply wouldn’t allow it.

  He’d scheduled and rescheduled a vasectomy three times in the last five years, but some emergency always came up and pulled him out of town. He’d call as soon as she left and make the appointment. Not using condoms was an indulgence neither of them could afford to get used to anyway. It was unsafe for his lifestyle, and he didn’t want anyone hurting her later. He’d start using them now. He swallowed her hand in his own. Maybe immediately.

  They just needed to burn out whatever was happening between them, and she would move on. He wasn’t really a person to her anyway, just a fantasy. She already knew he would never give her what she wanted. Soon she’d tire of the game. They’d disappoint each other and it would be easy to walk away.

  He pulled her around the chair and down onto his lap, really looking at her for the first time since she’d leapt from his imagination and into his office. She looked so serious with her hair pulled back and a business suit on. Tired, determined, defeated.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have come. I really thought I could just drop the box off and leave.” Her head nested against his shoulder as her fingers played with his tie.

  She’d been there all morning in his head, it hadn’t occurred to him it was strange she was there now. He never had personal visitors at work. Because he didn’t have personal relationships. Craig worked at SGI. Kelly refused to even enter the building lest the family company draw her away from medicine.

  Sophie was an anomaly in his life. A person who crossed so many of his boundaries he wasn’t even sure how to categorize her anymore. Friend, colleague, girlfriend? He hadn’t had one of those since junior high. Even in high school he kept to older women and one-night stands.

  “What did you bring me?” Still holding her, he scooted the chair closer to the desk and untied the gold ribbon. Lifting the blue lid he stared down at heaven. “How many did you get?”

  “It’s their biggest box.” He could hear the smile in her voice. “Two of each of the twenty truffles.”

  “Two? Are you trying to teach me to share?” The chocolate was tempting but she was so close and smelled even better.

  Her hair tickled his chin as she shook her head. “No, they’re all for you. It was supposed to be a bribe, but now I made such a mess of things consider it an apology.”

  Sneaking two fingers beneath her chin, he tilted her face up. His eyes focused on her lips and he couldn’t deny himself a quick taste. “For what?”

  Her eyes stayed closed as she smiled. “For breaking your no-business rule.”

  He shook his head. “It’s a little late in the game for you to start respecting my rules now. Besides, I broke it first when I asked for help with the accounts.”

  Her eyes shot open. “I keep forgetting. You should check all the other joint accounts you have with your father for activity you’re unaware of.”

  “What do you mean joint accounts?”

  “Two party accounts. Like the one he was depositing the money into.”

  What the hell was she talking about? “I thought you told me the money was going into his personal account.”

  “Yes. A personal joint account. A trust if I remember right. I gave you the account number.”

  His head rolled back on the chair as he processed what she was saying. He’d taken over his own finances when his trust fund started paying at eighteen. The trust was the only joint account left. Or had been, until he had emptied it to pay for his father’s buy-out.

  “Son of a bitch.” David’s hand hit the intercom button so hard Sophie jumped on his lap. “Is my father still in the building?”

  ———

  Two days without so much as a phone call, box of chocolates, oranges, anything. Sophie hadn’t heard from David since she left him pacing in his office. She fingered the engraved invitation to Lance Strong’s retirement party brought by messenger that morning. For Friday night. It was Wednesday. Obviously an afterthought, but whose? Did David want her there? Lance mentioned something about a party, was he inviting her because he realized David hadn’t?

  Other excuses for calling him were spread across the kitchen table. The cards for tomorrow night’s class and the Working It Out operating statements for the last few months. She really did want his advice about the business, and they’d never gotten around to the homework he suggested when he was over last. Glancing at the clock, she let out a frustrated sigh. It was already eleven. Even David wouldn’t be at work now.

  Sophie marched back to her bedroom and threw open her closet. If she showed up at his condo he might feel obligated to review the books with her. Fear niggled deep in her belly. What if he was with someone else? What if that was why he hadn’t called?

  Her breath grew hot as she reached down and grabbed the highest heels she owned. Thigh-high, size four black patent leather boots she’d gotten when she dressed as a vamp one Halloween. The heels were so spiky if he wasn’t alone she’d impale his foot and make him wish he had been.

  Checking her face in the mirror, she realized the steam from the bath she’d taken earlier to try and relax had curled her hair more than usual. Her eyes were wild. She had plenty of excuses for wanting to see him, but her eyes betrayed the reason. She wanted him.

  She licked her lips the entire drive to his condo, letting out a relieved sigh when she pulled in next to the Corvette. If he hadn’t been here she’d been willing to try the office.

  Clutching her briefcase, she navigated the stairs carefully in the stilettos.

  Standing before the door, she realized she was obsessed. Who in their right mind hunted down a man at midnight? He would guess what she’d come for. She knocked with her gloved hand and held her breath. The entire world seemed silent. She couldn’t hear a thing. Removing her glove, she rapped again. She’d wake him if she had to.

  ———

  David’s head was spinning as he flopped naked across his bed. He had done nothing but work for the last three days. Work, and try to get his father to call him back. Bastard’s voicemail claimed he was on vacation. Lance probably realized his twisted plan had been uncovered when he saw Sophie. She’d been the one to find him out both times.

  Sophie. She wasn’t going to be happy when she learned he was the new landlord for Working It Out. Exactly how was he going to explain everything without having that evil monster that lived inside her show up? When his team had approached the property management company about buying, they’d been very forthcoming with information about their tenants, especially Working It Out. There was no way she could run a profit with rent that high, no matter what she was charging for classes. He could just give the building to her, but she’d never take it. Probably accuse him of manipulating her with money again.

  He rubbed his hands over his face. He needed to shave, and get his mind on something else so he could get to sleep. He sat back against the pillows and grabbed for the remote. The television rose from the cabinet at the foot of the bed. A forty-inch plasma screen illuminated the dark room.

  He loved the TV. The way it rose up boxed him in, making his bed seem like his own private chamber. The digital cable provided him with anything he cared to see on demand. He pressed buttons until the program guide came up. Sports, news, movies, there it was. Adu
lt. He hit the button and a list of movies came up. They all sounded pretty tame, but still guaranteed to take his mind off the mess rolling around in his head. He selected one because it was part three in a series of six. Must be good if they made more.

  As the music and opening credits rolled he heard knocking. Great soundtrack. Nestling into the pillows, he heard it again. He checked the alarm clock. It was almost midnight. He jumped as the knocking grew louder, more insistent. He grabbed a pair of sweats from a drawer and made his way to the front door and checked the peep hole.

  What the hell? He opened it quickly. “Sophie? What are you doing here?”

  She ducked under his arm and into the dark condo. “Is that peep hole too low for you? Because I know someone who can have it fixed.”

  “What are you doing here?” he repeated. Did she know what it meant to show up at a man’s home this late at night?

  “I was going to call, but I don’t have your number.”

  “Yes you do.”

  She pulled the briefcase she carried tighter against her coat as he approached.

  “I put them all in your PDA when you tried to break my back.”

  Her eyes widened, then narrowed as she dropped her shoulders. “You are such a snoop.”

  If that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black. “So are you. You went through my SGI statements.”

  “Maybe you left them there so I would.”

  Was she taller? “Did you leave your PDA on your desk so I would see how many men you’ve dated?”

  “No! How could I have known you would snoop?”

  His eyes took her in from head to toe. Yes, she was taller. She had at least four inches of heel on the boots hidden beneath her coat. Just how high up her leg did they go? He heard the cheesy music coming from his room and his stomach clenched. Caught. He had to keep her from going back there, but the flickering light was already catching her attention.

  “Are you alone?” She arched her left eyebrow accusingly.

  As if she could be replaced without a full lobotomy. “I thought you said you trusted me.”

  She narrowed her eyes to slits, focusing on his face, bare chest, finally freezing on the tent in his sweats. Caused by her damned boots, not the two seconds of credits he’d seen before answering the door. Sensing the conclusion she’d jumped to, he grabbed for her arm, but she swung her briefcase at him, nailing him in the stomach.

  David sputtered, but kept going, not catching her until she was in his bedroom staring open mouthed at the television. “Where did that come from?”

  He closed his eyes in defeat. He wouldn’t be learning a thing about the boots tonight. “I can order it directly from the cable.”

  His eyes widened as she sat down on the bed, never taking her eyes off the screen. Her hand waved at the screen. “Not this. The television. When did you get it?”

  He wasn’t in trouble? He knew even less about women than he thought. “It hides in the cabinet during the day.”

  She jumped as a third person came on screen. She turned and stared at him wide eyed, shaking her head.

  He tried not to laugh. “Me either, I don’t even like to share chocolate.”

  Her shoulders dropped as she smiled and turned back to the screen.

  It was surreal. He couldn’t take his eyes off her as she watched. Moving behind her, he stretched his leg around her on the bed. “Do you like it?”

  “I don’t know,” she whispered as if they were in a movie theater and might disturb people. “I’ve never seen one before. It’s not very realistic.” She was still whispering as she leaned back against him. “The noises are weird and they’re all shaved. Even that guy with hair on his back.”

  He laughed and leaned his head down on her shoulder.

  “Are most women bare like that?”

  He wrapped his arms around her before answering. “Some.”

  Her stomach tightened beneath his hands. “Do you want me to be?”

  “No.” His fingers found the buttons on her coat and released them one by one.

  Her eyes were on the screen as he slipped the coat off. His breath caught as his fingers found the ribbons holding her slip in place at her shoulders. The white, lacy material was all she wore beneath the coat. Except for the boots that came all the way to the hem of the slip. Leather and lace.

  He got up and shucked his sweats, not that she seemed to notice. She stayed in her trance as he encouraged her to lift up so he could get rid of her coat. The way she stared was actually starting to bother him as he ran his hands down her sides to her hips. Through the slits on the side of her slip, he found her panties and began to pull them off. But his fingers encountered ribbon not elastic. Some genius had thought to make panties that tied on the side. If that wasn’t a million dollar invention. He released her, but she remained still.

  “I have a better idea,” he breathed against her neck as his hands found the top of the boots. He pushed her legs apart.

  Turning her head, she kissed him slow and full. “Me too. This is why they have that position for watching TV. I never thought of it before.”

  “I don’t want you fantasizing about someone else yet.” He lifted her up and tossed her back against the pillows, crawling to her as she giggled.

  Her hand squeezed around his cock, finally doing something about the pressure building since she had marched into his place in those boots.

  “You don’t want to try it?”

  “Try what?” He untied one side of her slip, peeling it back until his eyes feasted on her peaked breast. His tongue lapped at her sweet skin, carefully avoiding the bud. He wanted all of her attention. Her fingers threaded though his hair as she guided him to the tip. As she arched and moaned he knew he had her, even before he pulled her deep into his mouth.

  But as he made his way to her other peak, her mouth started again. “The television position. It’s called—” A shriek of delight escaped her as he scraped his teeth along the bottom of her other nipple. As he kissed a path down her stomach she began again. “We have to practice The Top. I have to learn to spin from facing forward to back.”

  He looked up. She had to be kidding. “Spin?”

  Her lip was between her teeth as she nodded.

  “I’m right here and you’re thinking about textbook positions?”

  “I haven’t seen you for two days and you’ve been here, watching porn?”

  His head fell against her belly, bouncing as she laughed with him.

  “I was trying to give you a break.” He crept back up her body, blocking her view with his shoulders. “You’re new to this. I didn’t want you to be too sore, and I can’t be trusted to leave you alone if we’re too close.”

  “I feel fine. I have a very active sex life, just not with other people. BOB and I—” He silenced her talk of the damned vibrator. He would make the thing obsolete if it killed him.

  Pulling her arms over her head he whispered against her neck. “If you were satisfied with BOB you wouldn’t be making a booty call on a weeknight.”

  “I’m here for business,” she purred.

  Dressed like this? He looked down into her face. Eyes closed, lips parted, breath ragged. Business? Hardly. Running him through the positions for real this time? Definitely. He pulled away and opened the nightstand. “Which one’s first?”

  She pushed up on her elbows. “Which one what?” Her heavy lids opened wide. “What are you doing with that?”

  “Which position did you want to try first? I’m not sure if the spinning one works for real, but it sounds like a great show.”

  She snatched the condom packet from his hand. “What are you doing with this?”

  He grabbed it back and stared past her shoulder. “I can’t have kids, Sophie.”

  Her eyes flickered in the light. He hoped it was from the television. “If you can’t, then you don’t need it. And that’s not a problem anyway. I told you I’m on the pill.”

  “Are you trying to get pregnant?” Why is thi
s such an issue with her?

  “Of course not.”

  “Then it shouldn’t be a problem.” He held the packet in the air. “No condom, no sex.”

  “Fine.” Reaching down Sophie lifted and retied her slip against her shoulder. She had to be kidding. She would actually come all the way over here dressed like that and then bail because he wanted to back up their birth control?

  He watched her get up and confidently march from the room. No way. He got up from the bed as she came back with her briefcase.

  “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I told you, I came for business.” Sitting on the bed, facing the action, she popped open her briefcase and pulled out a file, an envelope and a stack of note cards. She handed him the envelope. “This came by messenger today.”

  He could tell without looking it was an invitation to the retirement party Tessa had turned into a fundraiser for extra publicity. He handed it back, unsure why she gave it to him in the first place.

  “Okay, so it’s not from you.” Looking down she busied her hands, sorting through the file.

  “Would you want to go?” He didn’t, why would she?

  She shoved the papers back in the folder and stuffed everything back in her briefcase. “This was a bad idea. Forget it ever happened.” Slamming the briefcase shut, she reached to the floor for her coat.

  Reaching down, he grabbed the coat and held it behind his back. She wasn’t going out again dressed like that. “Why?”

  “Why?” She echoed. “Because I’ve had enough rejection for one night.”

  “I’m not… Where is this coming from?” He sat down next to her on the bed.

  She grabbed the packet he’d left on the mattress and flung it at him.

  “This is safety, Sophie. Unprotected sex is an indulgence.” One neither of them could afford to get used to. All too soon she’d be done with him. She’d realize he couldn’t give her what she wanted and be out in the world looking for someone who could.

  Her eyes closed and he watched her gnaw at her bottom lip. “You’ve been with a lot of women, David. I need to have something of you they don’t.”

  Did she ever. But telling her would ruin what little power he still held. He carried the coat with him as he made his way to the table by the door and back. She was still holding her briefcase across her lap when he returned.