by EJ Whitmer
Emmett rolled his eyes and released me before crossing to shut down his computer and pack up. “Well, thank you for being kind to her, regardless of your baseless negative opinion of her. Personally, I think she’s doing a great job. I hope HR can find her a permanent place here once Penny returns from maternity leave. Maybe Blake will take on an assistant.”
I schooled my features before I let the grimace bust through. Blake had never had an assistant before and I was selfishly very happy about it. It’s hard enough to find five minutes to discuss projects with him. Even if Gia did end up being an okay person, having to go through an assistant to get to Blake would only make things worse.
I shook off my negative attitude and focused on the evening’s plans. “Do you still want to do dinner tonight? I can cook something if you want to come over.”
“Yes, I want to do dinner tonight, but no, you’re not cooking. I’ve got it taken care of. You just have to show up, eat and be beautiful. Can you make it to my place by seven-ish?” Emmett slung his briefcase over his shoulder, rounded his desk and hugged me to his side.
“I think I can do that.” I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek, his five o’clock shadow scratching my lips in a delicious way, prompting me to linger and deliver another kiss along his jawline.
Emmett groaned deep in his chest and tightened his hold on my waist. “I feel like we haven’t been alone in ages,” he growled as he turned me to face him.
I grasped the lapels on his jacket tightly as I pressed my frame against his. I could feel the heat coming off of his body and the press of his growing erection against my belly told me dinner wasn’t the only thing on his mind.
“You’re the one who wanted to take it slow,” I whispered before nipping at his earlobe.
One of his big hands wound its way into my hair and tugged, providing access to my neck. With painstakingly slow movements, Emmett trailed wet kisses from my jaw to the collar of my sweater. “I’m not entirely sure why I said that. I must have been under duress. Disregard all previous talk of moving slow. Right now, I want fast. Hard and fast.” Emmett accentuated his last point by grinding his rigid length into my body.
Somehow, through the lust-filled haze that was my mind, I remembered where we were. Planting a short kiss on Emmett’s lips, I gently pushed him away. “We’re at work,” I scolded him half-heartedly. “Plus, you have to feed me first. I can’t perform on an empty stomach.”
Emmett groaned and loosened his tie. “Honestly, at this point, you don’t have to perform. I’m pretty sure just touching me will be enough to get the job done.”
I smirked and opened his office door. “How romantic.”
He grinned and walked with me to the elevators. “Hey, it’s not my fault you invited my mother to stay for dinner the other night. You promised me Anna and Emmett time.”
I punched him in the shoulder playfully and climbed onto the elevator. “Again, the Jennings Clan has impeccable manners. I’d expect you to do the same if the roles were reversed.”
Emmett grumbled some sort of response as the elevator reached the ground floor. We walked together to the employee parking garage, shared a quick goodbye kiss and went our separate ways.
Twenty minutes later, I hustled into my apartment and dumped my briefcase on the kitchen counter. Figaro leapt from his perch on top of the fridge to the mat on which is food dish rested and mewed up at me. I bent to give him a scratch behind the ears and dodged his immediate paw swipe. Fig doesn’t like to be petted when he’s hungry. Just like his mommy.
After pouring him a bowl of kibble, I rushed to my bedroom to change clothes. I threw on a pair of black skinny jeans, an oversized, olive green sweater and brown riding boots. I was reapplying mascara when my phone beeped, signaling a text. I glanced at the screen and couldn’t help but smile as Emmett’s name flashed.
*Pack an overnight bag. I don’t plan on letting you go home tonight.*
My stomach squirmed as I raced to my closet to pack my bag. Emmett and I hadn’t seen much of each other over the past few weeks. We’d get together for the occasional lunch date, but only managed to connect one or two nights a week. His text did more than make my lady bits do the mambo, it helped soothe away any insecurities I’d been feeling up to that point. I stuffed gym clothes and an emerald wrap dress in my bag, added necessary toiletries and took off for Emmett’s condo.
18
I arrived at Emmett’s at exactly seven and rushed up to the penthouse. I knocked once and was immediately pulled inside and crushed to the entryway wall. Emmett’s mouth descended upon mine, his tongue instantly prodding my lips, requesting entrance. I opened for him and moaned as his tongue teased mine, sliding in and out in an erotic dance.
He reached for the bag and purse hanging from my shoulder and dumped them unceremoniously on the floor. My keys and phone were snatched from my hand and deposited on the entryway table. Then I was being waltzed backward toward the sunken living room while simultaneously losing articles of clothing. Emmett scooped me up into his arms and carried me to the couch, arranging my body to straddle his lap on the center cushion. The cool air hit my sensitive skin as he relieved me of my bra, scattering goosebumps along my flesh.
“You are so sexy,” he breathed as his gaze traveled from my face, to my breasts and back again.
“So are you,” I panted. “But you’re wearing too many clothes.” I leaned forward to unbutton his shirt and moaned as he caught one of my nipples in his mouth and gave it a tug with his teeth.
“You aren’t playing fair,” I groaned. “I want to feel your skin.”
Emmett released his hold on my breast and gave me enough space to finish stripping his shirt off. Firm pecs rippled under smooth skin covered with a fine smattering of hair. His head fell back as I reached forward to drag my nails down his solid chest. I leaned forward to kiss and nip at his newly exposed collar bone and shoulders.
“I love your shoulders,” I whispered between kisses. “So wide and strong …”
Emmett quickly wrapped both arms behind my back and whirled me around to press my back into the couch, trapping both wrists behind my back in his vise-like grip. “I can’t concentrate with you touching me like that,” he warned. “You’re going to end this before it even begins.”
His panting grew heavier as I slowly ran my tongue over my bottom lip. “Don’t move your arms,” he warned as he withdrew one hand from behind my back to slowly unbutton my jeans.
I couldn’t have moved if I wanted to. His one hand easily surrounded both of my wrists, holding me captive as his other hand dipped into my panties. My back involuntarily arched off the couch as his index finger circled my sensitive skin. He released my wrists and arched an eyebrow in warning, waiting until I nodded my head in understanding before completely withdrawing his arm.
I obediently kept my hands behind my back as he slowly inched my jeans down over my hips and expertly untangled my legs from the tight material. Emmett kissed me once more on the lips, then began traveling down my neck to my chest, lingering slightly on my breasts before continuing down my stomach. My breathing increased in pace as I realized where he was headed. My stomach muscles clenched as his warm breath tickled the insides of my thighs. I braced myself for the first touch of his tongue and let out a surprised shriek as the intercom buzzed.
Emmett groaned and rested his forehead on my stomach. “That would be dinner,” he murmured against my damp skin.
I let out a shaky laugh and ran my fingers through his hair. “I wondered why I didn’t smell food cooking.”
His head shot up as he gave me a confused stare. “You were thinking about food when all of this was happening?”
I sat up and lightly shoved him off of me. “Of course not. It was just the first thing that popped into my head when you opened the door.” The intercom buzzed again. “Hurry up and go get that. The sooner we eat, the sooner we can pick up where we left off.”
With one last grumble, Emmett rose and trudged to the
door to collect our dinner. I quickly redressed and met him in the kitchen, grinning at the mountains of sushi on his kitchen island.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I kind of ordered one of everything.”
“It looks amazing! Thank you.”
I helped set the table with small plates and chopsticks and prepared my soy sauce with a large amount of wasabi. While Emmett poured us each a glass of wine, I uncovered the trays of sushi and began creating little partitions in each to split the portions in half.
“Um … What are you doing?” Emmett asked as he set my wine glass down and sat on the barstool next to me.
“Splitting the sushi,” I replied. “Shit … This one has an odd number of pieces. Can you hand me a knife?”
“Is that really necessary? You can just have the extra piece. I figured we’d just share and eat what we like.”
I gaped at him in horror. “No, no, no … That’s not the way it works. It has to be split evenly. What happens if I start on a roll and it ends up being terrible? Then when I try to take a piece of another roll that’s actually good, you’ve already demolished your half and then some of mine? No, sir. We split the rolls evenly.”
Emmett stared at me for a long moment before shaking his head. “Alright then. Whatever works best for you.”
We settled down side by side and dug in. Emmett wisely gave me the extra piece from the odd roll and dumped an ungodly amount of wasabi in his own dish of soy sauce.
“So how was work?” he asked between bites.
I sipped at my wine and chewed on my bottom lip. “Normally I’d say it was totally bizarre, but anymore it’s kind of the norm for me. Lilith and I went to lunch and ran into the helicoptering nudist.”
Emmett choked on his sip of wine. “He was parading about in the buff in broad daylight? What do you mean you ran into him?”
“He wasn’t naked today, thank God. Lilith and I were eating our lunches on a bench and he was walking his dog down the sidewalk in front of us. I called him out on his perverted antics from the other night and he seemed downright offended.”
“Did you get a good look at him? Do you remember any distinctive features?”
I tried unsuccessfully to hide my smirk. “You could say that. He actually looks like a chubby version of Tom Selleck. I thought maybe I was imagining it, but he called his dog Higgins and drove off in a red car that looked suspiciously like Magnum P.I.’s Ferrari.”
“You’re kidding me.”
I shook my head. “Nope. I couldn’t make this shit up. As he drove off, he offered to send me a picture of his penis if I gave him my cell number. So naturally, I slipped him my card. My day definitely got better after that.” I winked at Emmett and shoved a piece of sushi in my mouth.
“You’re hysterical,” he replied as he tugged lightly on my hair.
I laughed and kissed his cheek before continuing. “Kidding about giving him my number. Not kidding about him offering to send me a dick pic. Other than that, I spent most of the day preparing reports for my quarterly review with Blake. Then he cancelled our appointment at the last moment, which was fine with me. He was way fussier than normal today.”
Emmett nodded. “That’s to be expected. His divorce will be final tomorrow.”
I set my glass down and leaned back in my seat. “It is? How did I not know that?”
He shrugged and popped another piece of sushi in his mouth. “He’s not exactly singing it from a mountain top. From what I can tell, he’s pretty upset about it. The guys and I are taking him out for drinks tomorrow night to try to take his mind off of it for a bit. I think your brother Michael is coming as well.”
“Ugh. I feel awful. I’m so glad you’re taking him out, though. I’m sure he could use a night out with friends.”
Emmett regarded me seriously for a moment before smiling. “You know, that’s just one more thing I adore about you. You’re so laid back about me having my guy time.”
“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. Most of the women I’ve dated have been super clingy, wanting to spend multiple nights every week together. Asking what I’m doing every second of every day. It’s just refreshing to be on the same page as you.”
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and blinked repeatedly. “And what page are we on?”
Emmett poured refilled my wine glass and swiveled in his seat to face me. “The page where we’re both okay with needing personal space and not taking things too seriously.”
I took a large gulp of my wine. “Well we haven’t exactly been dating all that long. Although, I would like to spend a bit more time with you. That’s how relationships progress, you know.”
A slight flush began to climb up his neck. “Some relationships, sure. But I’m pretty comfortable with where we’re at now, aren’t you?”
“Emmett, I’m not asking you to propose or even give me a key to your condo. I’m saying that spending more time together is something that should probably happen at some point.”
The red tinge had reached Emmett’s ears by then. “What’s with the anxiety?” I asked. “Is spending more time with me that scary?”
“Of course not,” he replied. “I enjoy spending time with you. I guess I just worry that I will give you the wrong impression or lead you on.”
“Lead me on how?”
He paused to take his own giant gulp of wine. “I know you’re not asking me to profess my undying love or anything, but I do worry that you’ll eventually ask me to commit to something more permanent. And I’m just not the permanent type.”
“Permanent as in marriage?” I tried not to be offended by the visible shudder that wracked Emmett’s body.
“Permanent as in marriage, yes, but also moving in together, spending every waking minute together … Things like that. Permanent as in difficult or impossible to break free from.”
I let that sink in for a moment. “So what is your ideal relationship? Are we not exclusive?”
Emmett leaned forward and placed a kiss on my forehead. “Of course we’re exclusive. My ideal relationship … Honestly, it’s what we have now. We like each other. We have fantastic sex, even if it isn’t as often as we’d like. We aren’t seeing other people.” He reached to grasp my hands in his own. “I care for you. I like where we’re at. Can’t we just continue on like this?”
I stared at him intently, unsure of what to say. Was I happy with where our relationship was at? Yes. I, too, enjoy my own personal time. Was I in love with him? No. But I figured our relationship was like any other where like could turn into love.
Fortunately for Emmett, the ringing of his cell phone broke through our awkward silence. He glanced at me, as if for permission to answer it, and at my nod, accepted the call. I could only hear one side of the conversation, but I knew it wasn’t good. A few moments later, Emmett ended the call and turned to me.
“I have to go.”
“Did they find something?”
He paused as if considering whether or not to answer me and nodded once. “Yes. If you’d like to stick around, I’ll try to be back as soon as possible. I don’t want to miss out on this night together.”
“I’ll put the sushi away and find something to watch on TV. You go change and get out of here. We can talk more when you get back.”
Emmett grasped my face with both hands and planted a hard kiss on my lips. “You’re the best.”
I waved him away and stood to pack up the remaining sushi. Emmett emerged from his bedroom, clad in black track pants and a grey hoodie, just as I was wiping the counter off. With one last kiss, he grabbed his phone off the side table and hurried out the door.
I poured myself another glass of wine and made my way to Emmett’s bedroom in search of something more comfortable to wear. After donning one of his undershirts and a pair of black silk boxers, I grabbed my wine and settled on the couch. A large part of me wanted to bolt out the door and head home. Logically, I knew it wasn’t Emmett’s fault that he
was called away in the middle of a serious conversation. However, the thought of sitting and waiting for him to return when my head was swimming with negative thoughts was less than appealing. I decided to distract myself with television until he returned and we could finish our conversation.
Of course, Emmett couldn’t just have one remote for the TV. The entire coffee table seemed to be covered in remotes of varied sizes and colors. I eenie-meenie-miney-moed my selections and picked up the winner just as a beep sounded from the kitchen.
Assuming it was one of the high-tech appliances, I ignored the beep and began hitting random buttons on the remote. After the fifth button, the TV lit up and I gave a victory fist pump to the sky. Another beep from the kitchen interrupted my mini celebration. I groaned and replaced the remote on the coffee table before trudging to the kitchen to hunt down the source of the annoying beep.
