Magic at Work: a Love or Magic novel

by Sotia Lazu

  This wasn’t the day Lexi got what she wanted.

  She held the clothes against her chest and knocked on the bathroom door. “Ric? Are you decent?”

  “Not when I can avoid it, love.”

  Did he have to make even the dumbest remark sound so hot? “Well, I’m coming in, whether you are or not.” She opened the door and froze at the sight before her.

  He didn’t have his glasses on, and his hair was wild around his face. His shoulders and biceps were sculpted, and the effect they had on her didn’t fade when she glided her gaze downward, over his toned pecs and ripped abs. His upper body was that of a Greek God, forming a wide V from his broad shoulders to his slim waist. A towel barely clung to his narrow hips, and all that dreamy maleness was wet, as if he wasn’t sinful enough without her wishing she were a droplet of water gliding down his smooth skin, into the downy line that began right under his navel, and inside that towel.

  Never before had a towel been so hated… or so appreciated.

  Her gaze bounced off the fluffy white barrier and back to his face, where she expected to see a leer. That would shake her out of her lusty haze much faster than the serious look he appraised her with.

  “You call that decent?” was all she could come up with.

  “That word’s never described me, kitten.” He remained solemn, not teasing or provoking her, but his words sent a bolt of desire through her entire being, raising her heartbeat and body temperature, and making her breath labored.

  “My bad,” she whispered and held out the clothes.

  He took them and thanked her in the same hushed tone.

  As she exited the bathroom and closed the door behind her, Lexi didn’t know why she felt like something big and not altogether good had just happened.

  When Ric showed up back in the dining room, her mother and Edmund made valiant efforts not to giggle. Her pink pants ended well above his ankles, and the T-shirt—although long on her—stopped right at his midriff, letting a sliver of skin show with every step he took.

  He had his hands in his pockets, so nothing was outlined in the front of the pants, but Lexi had to try not to stare at how the thin material stretched over his ass when he sat down. Or at how there was no underwear line in sight.

  The rest of the meal and afternoon went by on a much lighter note. Lexi’s mom asked questions carefully constructed to seem like she wasn’t prying. Ric indulged, and Edmund jumped in from time to time, with anecdotes from Ric’s childhood.

  Lexi couldn’t believe she enjoyed IT-Richie’s company. She reminded herself tomorrow was another day. One during which all balance would be restored in the universe. The kiss they shared would be deleted from their memory, and they’d revert to their mutual disdain.

  She didn’t realize how fast the day went by, but it was a little after seven when Ric said he didn’t want to overstay his welcome.

  “Too late for that,” Lexi muttered, not to lose her edge. It came out half-hearted.

  Ric thanked her mom repeatedly for the meal and Edmund for the company, before turning to Lexi. “See you tomorrow.”

  “See ya.” She pretended not to look at his ass while Edmund walked him to the door.

  ****

  Lexi didn’t want to help her mother clean up. She hoped to avoid listening to her rave about what a nice boy Richard was, as Lexi knew she would.

  They hadn’t even picked up one plate, when she was proven correct.

  “Richard seems nice.”

  Lexi said nothing.

  “He minds his manners. He didn’t even yell when you almost ruined his clothes.”

  “Didn’t do it on purpose,” Lexi mumbled under her breath.

  “And he was helpful, too. He didn’t let me wash his clothes for him, and he went to the kitchen with you. To help you…” Her mom emptied leftovers from the plates into the empty salad bowl and stacked them on each other, all the time not even glancing at her.

  Lexi braced herself for a more direct line of questioning as soon as her mother realized fishing around wouldn’t bring results.

  She sighed with relief when Edmund called from the upper floor, “Joy? Can you please come here for a minute?”

  “In a minute, sweetie.”

  “Now, Joy. Please.”

  Both women looked toward the stairs. Lexi heard the urgency in the man’s voice, and apparently so did her mother, who stopped what she was doing, to rush upstairs.

  Lexi went back to cleaning up, bringing dishes to the kitchen and trying to keep her mind free of naughty fantasies that included the towel falling from around the hips of a certain half-naked, wet Brit.

  Great. Now she couldn’t stop thinking about the jerk. Could the day get any worse?

  She knew that was one of the things she should never wonder. Thinking such thoughts meant jinxing herself, challenging her luck, drawing in negative energy… Asking for something worse to happen.

  That worse now headed her way in the shape of her mother, who held in a firm, full-palmed grasp something Lexi had left in the shower and forgotten all about.

  Oh, God.

  “Lexi”—her mother held up Mr. Purple, two feet away from Lexi and too damn close to her own face—“is this a vibrator?”

  Fuck.

  “Um, yeah…” Lexi worried her lower lip with her teeth for a split second, before saying what belonged up there with the ten worst lines to say when your folks find your sex toys. “It was a gift, and I thought I’d try it.”

  It wasn’t a lie, but she wanted to hit her head against the closest surface. Couldn’t she have come up with something better?

  Her mom handed her the still-buzzing thing. Something must have jarred it and switched it on. “Edmund was passing by your bathroom. The door was open, and when he heard the vibration, he thought it was your cell phone. Told him it’s one of those battery-operated razors, for deep shave. I doubt he believed it, but I’m sure he appreciated the lie.”

  Lexi clasped the vibrator and turned it off. Without another word, she ran upstairs and shoved Mr. Purple all the way in the back of her underwear drawer. Though mortified, she couldn’t help but also be grateful Pedelty’s discovery stopped the Ric-centric talk with her mom.

  And hey, at least it wasn’t on while Ric was in the bathroom. She recognized a silver lining when she saw one.

  Chapter Ten

  No person in their right mind likes going to work on a Monday morning, and no one is ever in a hurry to get there unless work entails palm trees and exotic fruit.

  Or maybe hot guys with washboard abs.

  There was such a guy at Lexi’s workplace, but he was far from the reason she busted her ass out of bed and managed to shower and get ready in record time. She just wanted to make sure she’d be gone before either her mother or Edmund woke up. She still couldn’t face them.

  She started her car and put both hands on the steering wheel, barely refraining from banging her head on it. How did she always get herself into such messes? This time she didn’t hold back, and let her forehead meet the wheel full force. The blare of the horn snapped her out of her thoughts long enough to set the car in reverse and maneuver out of the garage.

  She got to the office at twenty to nine. That was a first, but she needed to have a cup of coffee on her own and clear her thoughts before everyone else got there. And she could think of no better way to clear her thoughts than by reading a bit more of Exotic Beast. She felt like she’d missed a fix—or several—during the weekend.

  Coffee was forgotten the moment she reached the next chapter. By the time she was done with it, she was attacked by images of IT-Richie in the shower, naked and dripping…

  She should be thinking of Rex, damn it.

  “Had a good night?”

  Lexi snapped up her head to see brilliant blue eyes looking at her behind glasses that should be taking something away from their startling beauty, but weren’t.

  Startling beauty?

  IT-Richie?

  Shit. She
needed to be medicated.

  She readjusted her posture, so she no longer slumped, and looked him straight in the eye. “Huh?” That was as witty as his accent let her be. What was up with that? He sounded different. Or maybe she was more susceptive to him.

  “I asked if you had a good night.” He spoke slowly, as if to a child.

  “I did. As a matter of fact, my night improved vastly once you left.”

  “I just bet it did. Didn’t have to see my hot body wrapped up in those tight pants anymore—”

  Lexi gulped audibly at the memory of how tight those pants had been. Her temperature rose.

  “Besides, pink’s my color.” He winked.

  He was being ridiculous on purpose. Ridiculous was good. Much better than sexy.

  He leered and bent forward, to plant his palms on either side of her PC monitor. “Never thanked you for the kiss, by the way.”

  “Kiss?” Couldn’t he have stayed on the ridiculous track? “What kiss?”

  “Ouch. I didn’t know I was so forgettable. Maybe I should remind you?”

  He licked his lips, and Lexi could swear she felt it at the apex of her thighs. Just like that, she was wet.

  She had to do something about it, so she got mad. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, and there will be no reminding—thank you very much. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got work to do.”

  He straightened and took a step to the side. The way he hooked his thumbs in his belt loops had his fingers framing his groin. “I hope your work changes your mind, kitten.” He waggled his eyebrows and bounced on the balls of his feet, the movement tilting his hips forward. When he smirked and turned to go, he left behind a very distraught Lexi.

  Kitten did it. She knew why his accent was different. Whom it reminded her of. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t figured it out the first time he’d used the nickname. Maybe she’d never heard the other’s voice in reality, but it was there, in her head twenty-four-seven since the first time she read of him.

  Rex.

  Glad nobody else was at the office yet, she pushed back her chair and hurried after him. She reached him after a few steps, grabbed his arm, and made him spin toward her.

  “What?” He seemed pissed off, but she’d done nothing. Mere seconds ago he’d been annoying her, and now he was upset she’d rather forget the kiss? He didn’t even like her.

  She didn’t care. He had no reason to be upset. She was the wronged party.

  “What?” he asked again. Now she noticed his eyes were darker. She could swear it wasn’t anger, but something else.

  “Why did you call me kitten?” Lexi glared.

  “’Cause I bloody well felt like it. Is that all?”

  “No. Why kitten?”

  “You remind me of one. With those green eyes and claws…”

  Lexi nodded and let go without moving from where she stood. She was far from convinced of his innocence, but she couldn’t accuse him of having anything to do with the book just because he sounded like she thought Rex did.

  Well, if he was behind it all, that kiss had been a complete waste of time. Or it would have been, if its purpose was to silence him. In all honesty though, it was one hell of a kiss, and she wouldn’t mind a repeat performance if Ric wasn’t such a grade-A idiot. But he was, and so she did. She minded so much, she had to get away from him that very instant.

  ****

  He wished she hadn’t touched him. When he approached her, he meant to… Well, hell if he knew what he meant to do. He wanted to be a five-year old and pull her hair. Make her acknowledge the kiss they’d shared, or just make her uncomfortable. What he didn’t expect was to be more uncomfortable than her. Including inside his pants. Going commando in tight jeans could be unpleasant when he got hard, but at least his cock was held in place. Not wearing underwear under the loose-fitting pair he had on today was torture; his cock that was previously hanging comfortably was now painfully pressed downward by the crotch seam. Her touching him only made things worse.

  And the way she looked at him, all fire…

  Ric rushed to the men’s room to fix his not-so-little situation.

  He knew trying to get rid of his hard-on would be useless. It would take no more than approaching Lexi, to reestablish it. With a deep breath, he readjusted himself so the seam cradled his length, instead of suppressing it. He threw some water on his face and smoothed back his hair. In the mirror, he saw what he believed Lexi had when he was doused in Coke. Rex—or as close to Rex as he could be these days.

  He chuckled at what an idiot he was, thinking of himself as two separate entities. He was both Ric and Rex. There was no need to try and get the girl as one, when the other was better equipped for the task. Once he had her, he’d grow on her. Yes, his old badass self would be his key to the kingdom. He messed up his hair with his fingers, allowing damp strands to frame his face.

  He snorted. Like bloody Superman. Stick a pair of glasses on him and let a curl hang down his forehead, and his secret identity was safe. He flexed his biceps one at a time and took the trademarked Superman-pose—fists resting on hips, legs spread at shoulder width, chest pushed outward.

  “Faster than a speeding bullet.”

  Superman himself couldn’t have spun around his axis as fast as Ric did when he heard the chuckle.

  “Ric, my boy, are you finally coming out?”

  John, of all people, had to be the one to see him preen like a peacock. The way the dark-haired hulk sneered made Ric pray for super-strength, to kick him all the way back to Chicago and make sure he never laid eyes on him again.

  He settled for a glare as he brushed by him on his way out.

  ****

  Lexi heard Edmund’s voice before she saw him coming up the stairs. She sank lower in her chair, praying her monitor would hide her.

  She hated having to minimize the browser window when spanking was on. She felt like a very dirty girl for how wet she got at the thought of a big, calloused hand smacking her ass. Even dirtier for how that made her almost giddy.

  “Good morning.” Edmund passed by her desk, and she mumbled the words back, itching to return to her reading.

  She waited to see the doors of his office close behind him before restoring her browser. She’d finish the chapter, and then go tell him she needed more out of her job.

  By the time she reached the point where Rex was all growly, she’d almost forgotten where she was as well as any reason why she should be feeling bad.

  “I’m not your toy, Shifter.” Another slap added to the fire already burning her skin. “You cannot discard me when you’re done playing with me.”

  “I’m sorry.” Xandra could see his insecurity under his dominant façade. “I’m sorry,” she said again, hoping he saw the truth in her words.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  She was about to apologize again—keep apologizing until he believed her—when he twisted his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back. “You’re going to have to convince me,” he said with a smirk.

  Lexi chanced a glance around. Matt and John clicked on their keyboards like crazy. She felt bad that all she could think of was getting off, while the two men were hard at work. She had to find something to do.

  Something to focus on, other than the throbbing need between her legs.

  She rubbed her thighs together. She had to stop reading, before someone noticed her panted breaths or the flush she felt spreading from her cheeks down the front of her blouse.

  She didn’t care.

  ****

  Ric was just back at his desk, when he noticed Lexi exhibiting the same signs she had on Friday, right before she’d driven him wild by masturbating while he watched. He hacked into her system again and started skimming over the page she was reading.

  Spanking? She’d be the death of him.

  He didn’t dare touch himself, even though he was dying to. The on-screen Rex was having a much, much, better time.

  “Do you still think you’re be
tter than me? Still think you’re doing me a favor?”

  Xandra mewled. She wanted to scream at him to move faster, drive harder inside her, but this was his game. He made the rules, and his rules said she had to go crazy with anticipation before he let her climax.

  His hand landed hard on her ass.

  Ric wanted to cup that magnificent ass. Have the taut flesh against his palm. Feel it heat under his touch.

  He needed release, and he needed it now.

  He couldn’t get it.

  Instead, he spent the day reading what she read, thanking God and cursing his luck at the same time that there was no pressing matter to be handled at work. He didn’t dare move from his desk, because he’d be unable to hide the erection stretching his jeans.

  Time went by excruciatingly slow. He watched Lexi stifle gasps and squirm on her seat, while he got a good idea of everything that made her hot and bothered. It seemed his girl wasn’t all vanilla, and he didn’t mind that one bit.

  ****

  Lexi crammed in as much naughtiness as she could until half past one. When she was about to talk to Edmund, she saw him leaving. He was meeting a client, and she cursed herself for spending so much time with Exotic Beast. Upset and more than a little guilty, she started preemptively translating the manual for a product supposed to launch in the local market next month. They’d need it in German at some point, anyway. Who’d have thought studying foreign languages for the fun of it would pay off more than her Master’s?

  When she looked up again, it was half past five. The office was almost empty, though Ric was still there. She wished he weren’t. She wanted to read some more and didn’t appreciate the company.

  She returned to her book anyway, and soon wished she hadn’t. She needed to come, or she’d explode. She’d have to go home and have a one-on-one with one of her toys. Not Mr. Purple; the thought of it in her mom’s hand killed the allure.