Unentangled

by Katherine King

  "Thanks," I say in response and head back to the kitchen area to grab a cup. Trying to settle my racing heart, I place my hands on the edge of the counter and squeeze.

  “Just breathe,” I whisper underneath my breath.

  "You okay?" I hear Lucas ask behind me.

  I jump, and fumbling with my cup, I reply, "Yeah. Just a little tired. Haven't been sleeping well."

  "You’ve been working a lot again. Maybe you should take a couple of days off," he suggests as he casually reaches around me to grab the coffee pot to pour his coffee. I watch as his long fingers grasp the handle and my mind flashes to remembering how they felt as they explored me.

  Pushing deeply into me.

  My body is yearning for him against my will.

  Abruptly, I turn and face him.

  He holds the pot out, like there had never been anything between us, silently waiting for me to lift my cup so he can fill it up. My hand shakes as I try to unsuccessfully hold it steady, pretend that I’m okay.

  "Think about it," he says, placing the pot back on the burner before turning with his coffee in hand, to leave the kitchen.

  His casualness, like nothing happened, has left me spinning.

  This is what you wanted. You wanted to pretend it didn't happen and now that Lucas is doing exactly that, you’re not happy with that either, - I mentally scold myself.

  Hastily, I sweeten my coffee before I take a large sip, and focus only on swallowing the caffeinated beverage.

  "Buck up, Emma," I whisper under my breath forcing myself to leave the kitchen before I’m mentally ready.

  Heading up to my office, I try throwing myself into my full day of work, trying so hard, but failing, to forget that night.

  In the evening, I decide to go for a run hoping to burn off some of these spinning emotions. As I exit the cottage, Lucas jogs past, completely defeating that plan. He waves a short, casual, friendly wave before continuing on his way past the cottage. I feel slightly stung even though I shouldn't. We had crossed a line and we couldn’t have the friendship we had before.

  His casualness is for the best, - is what I keep repeating over and over in my head as my feet hit the dirt, feeling as if I have heavy weights strapped to each of my ankles as I head down the road that leads back to the main road and purposely choose to jog in the opposite direction of Lucas.

  Over the next few weeks, Lucas remains firmly behind the line I had drawn. He treats me cordially, asking for my opinions and suggestions, working side by side with me often. But he always remains aloof, respectful, my employer only. He continues to jog daily but never again asks me to join him.

  But for me, every time he stands near me, it affects me more and more. I find myself inhaling his scent, loving how his laughter touches me deeply. Watching how his hands move, remembering over and over, how his hands felt as he touched me that one time. Wanting desperately to go back and experience how that mouth of his would feel on mine - on my body.

  Mourning that I never tasted him when I had the chance.

  My mind slips back to that moment in the hot tub, when he had stood before me stroking himself, the head of his beautiful cock leaking precum...

  And I had for a moment, wondered where I wanted him most first...

  "Emma?" Martha says from my office doorway.

  Snapping out of one of my many day dreams, I look up to Martha's questioning gaze.

  "Sorry, I was deep in thought," I say, flushing.

  "I could see," she replies, teasing lightly. "Lucas asked me to speak with you about attending an LCBO dinner with him this weekend. Some of the board members will be staying here and he would like for you to be in attendance along with his parents."

  My first instinct is to say no but then I remember Lucas's firmly placed distance between us. This was just a business dinner.

  "Yeah, sure," I reply, unenthusiastically.

  She nods quickly, opens her mouth to say something but must decide against it, before turning to retreat from my doorway.

  Sighing, I pack up my bag and head back to the cottage to spend another evening by myself. With all the additional work hours I have taken upon myself, I have not made any friends. Maybe it is time to slow down, to get myself back into a normal schedule. After all, the restaurant and inn are doing well, and the employees are all now fully trained.

  I could afford to relax a little now, get some balance back into my life.

  Deciding that there’s no time like the present to start working on that, I walk and feed Quinny before heading into the small town of Niagara-On-The-Lake. I pop in and out of shops, browsing mainly, chatting with the small shop owners when they realize that I’m Lucas’s new restaurant and inn manager. They all state how much they love Lucas with the older ladies fluttering on about him and how handsome and hard-working he is. Around 8pm, I give into my hunger and decide to check out one of the local restaurants. The host quickly assures me they have room for one and I follow him to my table, which is located at the back of the restaurant.

  After I have sat and placed my napkin across my lap, I hear familiar laughter from across the room, causing my stomach to bottom out immediately, as my head turns. Lucas is sat five tables away from me, deep in an easy conversation with a beautiful blond.

  I sit frozen, unknowing what to do, the host’s voice seeming as if from far away as he inquires as to whether I want a drink or not. I feel unreasonable as unwanted jealousy eats away at me as I see her reach out and touch his arm. I grit my teeth, anger swirling through as he whispers in her ear, a grin spreading cockily across his face. As he is pulling away from her, he glances across the room, his gaze colliding with mine.

  I quickly rise from my seat, suddenly not hungry, suddenly not even angry...

  Wanting only to vomit...

  I unknowingly cause my chair to fall backwards, drawing the eyes of the other patrons as the bewildered host hastily catches it before it crashes to the floor.

  “Sorry,” is all I can manage as I grab my purse, stumbling over the napkin that has fallen over my feet, threatening to trip me before I manage to stay upright to get myself out of the restaurant without further incident.

  Getting into my car, I lean my head onto my steering wheel, pressing it into my forehead hoping that the pain I can physically inflict will distract from the pain tearing through my heart.

  Seeing him with another woman hurts...

  So very deeply.

  Leaning back from the steering wheel, I mutter out loud, "He isn't yours. He never was. This is ridiculous."

  I feel a tear slip ludicrously down my cheek. I swipe at it, angry at Lucas...even angrier at myself.

  I hastily turn on my car and head back to the cottage where I pour myself a large glass of wine. This time, even though I feel stupid allowing it to happen, I don't try to hold back the tears that start streaming down my face.

  Chapter 10

  Lucas

  "It was great seeing you Lucas," Amelia says, her voice practically purring the words, as she places a hand on my chest.

  I inwardly groan. Now comes the hard part.

  Turning to face her outside the restaurant, I take her hand from my arm and give it a squeeze. I now realize that calling her out of the blue this evening had been a mistake but I had been walking around with a frustrating hardon all day. By the time I left my office to head home, I decided a good romp between the sheets with someone would help.

  If I thought it was hard to be around Emma before I had even had the chance to touch her, it was worse now. After that night with her, every time I saw her, I would envision how she looked, naked, her legs wide open waiting – begging - for me.

  Today, Emma had worn a white blouse that had shown the outline of her bra when it pulled tight and all I could think of was those bountiful breasts as they bobbed up and down from my thrusts.

  Breasts that I never got to touch - to savor - because Emma had cut the night short.

  Way too short.

  Since th
at night, I have relived what it was like to feel Emma wrapped around me, oh so tight, as I was finally able to slake my lust for her inside of her body instead of using my hand once again. Having to revert back to using my hand since that night has not helped now that I have those vivid and real memories. I had mistakenly convinced myself that all that I needed was a sexual release and Amelia’s blond beauty had immediately come to mind.

  Amelia and I had an easy relationship, one that has been mutually beneficial on both sides over the past five or six years off and on. Although neither one of us had wanted anything more than an occasional hook up, we had somehow become friends as well as lovers so I hadn’t hesitated in making the call, knowing she knew exactly what I wanted when I asked her to dinner.

  And I had tried throughout the course of dinner to forget about Emma, to focus on Amelia but Emma...

  She had always lingered in my mind, my body - my heart.

  Constantly yearning to be only with her.

  Looking up to see Emma seated at a table across the room with a stricken look on her face, had killed all desire to be with Amelia.

  "Amelia, I'm sorry," I begin, as I allow my eyes to run over my now former lover’s face.

  "Who is she?" Amelia cuts straight to the point.

  Sighing, knowing there is no use in denying it, I respond, "She's my GM at the restaurant and inn."

  "Ahhh," she replies with a knowing smirk on her face. "I was wondering why you haven't taken me to your restaurant."

  Nodding, I admit honestly, "Yeah."

  I watch Amelia’s face probe mine as she says quietly, “Lucas, we have been friends as well as lovers. While our relationship has always been mutually beneficial, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I never expected you to use me to try to make someone jealous.”

  Wincing, I try my best to explain these roiling emotions, "It’s not like that, Amelia. I didn’t bring you here tonight to make her jealous.”

  “So, just why are we here?” Amelia asks, her tone becoming irritable, her arms crossing over her chest as I begin to see her impatience begin to settle in.

  “Emma and I had an...encounter,” I find myself struggling trying to name the night that had haunted me. “And I can’t stop thinking about her. I was hoping your company would help me to forget, to move on because she has made it clear she is hands off. I didn’t know she was going to be here tonight.”

  Amelia waits impatiently, knowing there is more.

  Sighing, I admit, “She also has a boyfriend, and what we did, completely crossed the line and I’m struggling with the fact that I know no one deserves to have that happen to them. I know deep down Emma isn’t the type to cheat but...”

  Amelia lets out a big sigh, her arms coming uncrossed as she pauses a moment before saying, "You’re both fools, Lucas.”

  Surprised, I look at Amelia. I hadn’t expected that response. I had expected for her to be upset, to rail in anger at me in using her in trying to forget someone else.

  “I saw her face. She wasn’t happy that we were together, boyfriend or no boyfriend. Whatever you’re feeling, she is feeling too. You’re a fool if you don’t pursue her. If she feels half as strong about you as what you feel about her, this boyfriend is just an obstacle, a mere blimp on the bumpy road to being with her."

  Shaking my head, I respond, "I’ve tried talking to her but she keeps this wall up. Since the night we..." I trail off, suddenly awkward talking about my one night with Emma.

  "So, you did sleep with her?" Amelia asks in her direct way, not shocked at all.

  "Not really slept..." I hinge.

  Amelia's short bark of laughter is sudden, surprising me.

  "Lucas, Lucas. What were you thinking was going to happen tonight? That you would forget about her? I know you. For the first time, you have fallen for someone. I always knew that when it happened, you would fall hard. Everything you do, you put your heart and soul into. Falling for someone would be the same. Go, speak to her, because that look on her face was not the look of someone who wasn't feeling something in return," Amelia says.

  Leaning down, I lightly kiss her cheek as I reply truthfully, "Turns out calling you was the right thing after all."

  She chuckles and lightly swats my chest as I straighten, saying, "Oh...I'm going to miss your random calls."

  Grasping her hands, I lightly kiss both, before releasing them. Turning from her, I hail a taxi and escort Amelia to it with a brief thankful kiss to her cheek again before I walk to my car. Amelia's words of encouragement keep reverberating around in my head.

  The next morning at work, I wait patiently by the host stand, with a coffee in hand for Emma. I know that to accomplish my goal to be with her, to get her to see that there is something deep between us, deeper than just a physical one-night stand, I need to be patient. I watch as she finally appears, swinging the main door to the restaurant open before stepping through and I'm immediately breathless. Dressed in a short summer dress that shows off those long legs of hers causes my cock twitches to attention. Forcefully, I pull my attention away from the legs that had once wrapped tightly around my waist to pull me closer to her, as she silently begged me with her body, her eyes, to fill her more deeply.

  Her gaze avoids mine until I murmur in welcome, "Good morning. I made your coffee the way you like."

  Finally, she lifts her eyes to meet mine and I see confusion. Instead of responding to her confusion, I smile widely at her.

  She has no idea that I have made up my mind to have her.

  That this time, nothing will stop me.

  "I want to review the food and labor cost reports you left on my desk yesterday," I continue, as I gesture for her to head up the stairs before me.

  She looks startled.

  "I have a meeting this morning with Charlie," she replies, clearly off balance.

  Taking out my phone, I send Charlie a quick text, as I say in a pleasant tone, “I’ll just let Charlie know that you will be a few minutes late.” Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I look over Emma’s face, silently telling her that she isn’t getting away from me.

  Not again.

  Unable to come up with an excuse to avoid meeting with me, Emma heads up the stairs ahead of me. I follow, drinking in the sight of her ass in front of me.

  Someday soon... - I promise myself silently.

  Along the way to Emma’s office, I tell her I’ll be with her momentarily as I quickly retrieve the reports from my desk, before I rejoin her.

  As the door to her office clicks softly closed behind me, I watch as her eyes widen. We’ve made a point of never being alone, in close - and closed - quarters since that night. We both knew that spark between us would ignite so we both silently agreed to keep the doors open at all times.

  But not this time.

  Walking over to where she is sitting behind her desk, I lay the reports in front of her. Placing one hand on the back of her chair with the other braced on the desk, effectively encircling her without touching her, gives me the perfect view of her cleavage.

  I suddenly envision grasping both globes, placing my cock between them as I thrust myself into ecstasy.

  I force myself to move my gaze away from her swelling breasts before I explode like a school boy in my pants and concentrate on the report. We review the numbers for a few minutes, the air heavy and thick – alive – between us as I maintain our physical closeness so that she has no other choice but to remain aware of me. I hear her shallow breathing and I firmly keep my eyes away from her cleavage, knowing that those beautiful breasts would be trembling from her jagged breaths. She reaches out to take a sip of the coffee I poured her and I see that her hand is shaking.

  Leaning close to her ear, I admit in a whisper, "I didn't fuck her. There hasn't been anyone since you."

  She shoots straight to her feet, forcing me to step back quickly.

  "Emma..." I say quietly, intently.

  "Lucas..." she says my name, her voice trying to be stern.

  It's the
first time she has said my name in front of me since that night. My cock twitches again, pulses.

  Unable to stop myself, I take a step towards her but she avoids me and scoots around the opposite side of the desk.

  "We agreed to a working relationship," she says breathlessly, off balance.

  "Yes, we did. But what I saw on your face when you saw me with Amelia last night,” I pause before I add on softly, “I know I’m not the only one that cares."

  She flushes. I love when I make her flush.

  "I don't care if you’re still seeing the cop because I know what you feel for him is not as deep as what you feel for me," I state quietly, firm and confident in my statement.

  Her eyes glance away from me.

  "Don't try to deny it," I coax softly.

  "I have to get to my meeting with Charlie," she says. She doesn't look back as she walks out of her office. I let her go...for now. I have done what I set out to do.

  The next morning, I greet her the same way but this time as I hand her the coffee, I tell her how beautiful she looks. I can see it startles her, making her uncomfortable as she glances around. She will have to get used to it. I plan on telling her every day.

  And someday it will be when she first opens her eyes in the morning - in my bed.

  That evening, the LCBO board members arrive for the dinner party that I’m hosting. As part of my marketing plan, I plan on wining and dining them so I remain top of mind with them. I realized long ago that spending time with people, getting to know them over great food and wine is the best way to establish a business relationship because it becomes more than a business relationship. It becomes a friendship.

  A few minutes after the set reception time for cocktails, I glance at my watch, nervous that Emma won't show up. But twenty-two excruciating minutes later, the door swings open and she finally walks through. Dressed in a long, silky deep blue dress that clings to every curve, my body is drawn to hers by an invisible string, as I walk to her as if in a trance. Her gaze follows my every step towards her and I can see in her eyes that she is just as much in appreciation of me.

  Reaching her side, I hold her eyes as I say softly, "You’re the woman of my dreams."