by Tania Cooper
“Lexi, it’s Lane, sorry to ring you on your personal number but, well, just a little worried about you, you’re never this late and well, I guess, just give me a call when you get this message, let me know you’re okay.”
Damn it, bro, I have a really bad feeling here, this ain’t right, can we check with security or something? I’m really freaking worried.
“Hey Clive.”
“Hey Mr. Anderson, everything okay?”
“Sort of; you seen Miss Ryan today? She’s usually in by now but, well, she’s running extremely late, can you do me a solid and check if she’s either signed in or well … you know what else.”
“Sure thing, sir.”
“No, it’s Mr. Anderson or Lane to you Clive, we’ve known each other almost five years now.”
“Sorry Mr. Anderson, but no, nothing on either the watch list or the entry log, sorry again Mr. Anderson.”
“Okay thanks.”
Uh Lane, check with her receptionist, what was her name, Alecia wasn’t it?
“Damn it okay, okay, come on fucking elevator, where the fuck are you? Screw it.”
Damn bro, you’re sprinting down these stairs faster than Usain Bolt. Come on, calm down a little at least, it won’t do anyone any favours if you kark it on the bloody stairs. Damn you can still smell the sex in the air in here I think, fuck, run you bastard, run.
“Alecia, have you seen Lexi?”
“No Mr. Anderson, she’s not been in all day, why?”
“Well she hasn’t shown up yet and I can’t reach her on her private line. Do you have her address? I’m getting worried and I just want to check in, see if she’s okay.”
“Okay yeah, that is odd, um, I can’t really hand out her personal details.”
“Damn it girl, just give me the address.”
“Okay, okay, here. Please let me know how she is.”
Okay, here’s her apartment complex, um, she’s number 316, so go on, what are you waiting for? Go see if our girls are okay. Thank God she gave her security code to her receptionist for such an emergency so we can at least get to her front door. Slow down, ow, fuck, will you watch those corners? You just cracked my head against the banister end. Fuck that hurts, right, 312, 314, bingo! Now come on, knock on the door, hurry up, damn it.
“Lexi, you here, come on babe, answer me.”
Try knocking harder.
“Lexi?”
“She left about eight thirty this morning mate; she ain’t been back yet. She works over near those posh apartments on the waterfront. You her boyfriend or something?”
“Something like that, thanks, mate.”
“Want to leave your number or something so I can ring if she comes back or what?”
Lane, you going to answer him … no … okay then. Where are we going now?
“Lexi, where are you baby, damn it.”
This office is dark without her in it. I’m beyond worried here, Lane, maybe we should call the cops or something, you know, see if there’s any reports or anything.
“Fuck Lexi, where are you?”
“Lane, everything okay? Alecia said you’d been tearing your hair out looking for me; Clive downstairs made the same comment.”
“Lexi, where the hell have you been? I was so freaking worried! God, I’m glad you’re okay. Fuck, I was so worried something had happened to you; don’t scare me like that, baby.”
“Hot Lips, baby, where the hell have you been, we’ve both been going crazy.”
“Baby, calm down, it’s okay, we had a doctor’s appointment, just a routine check-up and we took Alexis’s mum to her appointment too. I thought Lexi told you both, I made sure she emailed Lane.”
“Lane, hey, it’s okay. Come on, don’t squeeze so tightly, I’m fine, thank you for worrying, but I did tell you. Didn’t you check your email?”
“Baby, I have been checking those every ten minutes all damned morning! Hell, I checked there, the security desk, your offices and even got your home address and checked there.”
“You checked my home?”
“I was worried you’d been hurt or were too ill to call in; I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I swear I emailed and told you.”
“Honestly baby, I haven’t had anything from you since yesterday.”
“She really did email, Eight.”
“No doubt, but I think I know what might have happened.”
“Shit, fucking internet, it’s in my damned drafts folder, Lane, I’m so sorry.”
Whoa, hold your horses, bro, the door’s open. Oh damn, she feels good. Mmm I’ve missed this, baby I’ve missed you and Lexi so damned much.
“Missed you too baby, oh your boy’s tongue is driving my girl wild.”
Lane’s teeth nip at Lexi’s lips as he reaches past her and pushes the door closed. Her body moulds against him as he deepens the kiss, pushing her against the door, hunger and passion burning through them both as his hands reach her backside and pull her tight to him.
He pulls back for a moment, Lexi and Hot Lips both mumbling as they struggle to think of a response to the sudden, passion soaked attack.
“Lexi, I have wanted to say this to you for so damned long, I wanted to tell you from the moment I saw you, I … I love you Lexi, I love you with everything I am and ever will be. These past weeks have been a trial on my heart and soul. I’ve wanted to tell you so many times how I feel but, well, you wanted professional, to see how the project goes, but I can’t wait, I need you in my life, Lexi, and us being in the same office with how I feel and how badly I want you each and every day, professional is something I just cannot keep to. I want us to be more than work mates and I want so much more than a simple office fling, if you’re willing, willing to try and make this work then so am I, and I promise, nothing sexual will ever happen again in this office unless you want it to. You deserve so much more than that. I love you Lexi, and I want this to work.”
“Lane, I … well … I ... uh … Okay, we can try, we can try and make this work. I’ve wanted this just as long as you have, I just didn’t want to ruin our careers over it, but as long as we can keep this out of the office, especially while this project is still on, then, yes, I think we can make us work.”
“Good, I love you Lexi, I’m so damned sorry for the way I have acted. I was just terrified after how things played out last week, I know that sounds stupid but I was. It was like my world collapsed and I just couldn’t keep up the image that you wanted. Hearing you say that you wanted to keep things ‘professional’ it just killed all that I had wanted to say right then, it felt like I’d been rejected before anything had started and in that moment I just couldn’t face you or us. Before you’d said anything I had everything, everything I’ve said now, all of that was waiting, waiting for you to hear, but well, you know what happened and I just, well, I’m sorry, sorry for acting how I did and not being strong enough to tell you then just what you mean to me.
“Oh and one more thing, you’re staying at my place tonight, and that’s not a request.”
“Mmm, now that’s fine with me.”
“Eight, pinch me.”
“What the fuck?”
“Eight, I said pinch me.”
“Um, why baby? I really want to kiss the fuck out of you right now, or at least get Lane to do it, so why do you want me to pinch you?”
“Because I’m sure I dreaming.”
“Oh baby, this is no dream, this is happening, this is really fucking happening.”
“You’re right it is, and I cannot wait to have you in me tonight. Oh by the way we were freshly waxed last night, nice and smooth.”
“Fuck baby, you’re killing me.”
The worry that was radiating off of Lane when Alexis walked into his office just after lunch yesterday was heart-warming, and the kiss, ahh, that kiss said everything. Well I thought it did, but apparently he had more to say. The words ‘I love you’ slipping fr
om his lips were an absolute shock to my girl and almost had her legs buckling from under her.
It was the truth, so clear to see in his eyes, that had her falling even harder for this man. A man she thought might never feel for her as she was beginning to feel for him; a man that in a single moment revealed his true self and the love he has for her. After the way he walked out last week and didn’t come back, she can’t believe it came to this, Lane declaring his love for her.
The honesty behind his words when he explained his struggles with his feelings, then feeling rejected by her calling everything off and then him admitting he handled that rather badly, was all Alexis needed to hear to give this relationship a real go, with some conditions of course. No more office sex? Are you fucking kidding me! How could she deny me that? It’s just cruel, I tell you, and secretly I felt a slight pang in her feelings when she said that was a no go if they were to be serious about making this work.
As much as she insisted that it can’t happen again, I think there still may be a chance of it in the future. Maybe after the stress of this campaign is over and they are back to their own offices, Eight and I will have a good go at initiating something that’s a bit naughty during office hours.
But after heading to her place to grab a few things to stay the night at Lane’s and then realising he does indeed live in a penthouse apartment on the top floors of the Eureka Towers, things start to feel a little off. Especially after he opens the door and says welcome, to a very cold and stark penthouse, because this is certainly no home.
Alexis starts to feel a little uncomfortable, but it has nothing to do with the loving man beside her who still has a firm grip of her hand. No, it has to do with this place not fitting the true Lane she now knows. The beach house, that was all Lane, or who we saw as the real Lane that weekend. A man who was gentle and caring when we needed it the most. It was warm and homely, but this, this just seems to fit the Mr. Uptight persona we gave him before we got to know him.
Lane seems to sense Alexis’s change in mood, grabbing her face gently while kissing the corner of her mouth.
“So, what do you think?” he asks while walking her further into the apartment, towards the view that is seen through an entire wall of glass.
“Wow. That view is to die for, Lane.”
“To be honest, that’s the only reason I’m still here. The company owned this first and then it was offered to me as a sweetener when it looked like I was going to take an offer from another company instead of taking 100 Design’s offer. They threw this in, fully furnished at a heavily discounted price. So I thought, why not. I’ll always have the beach house to escape to. I just haven’t had the time to really make it mine, I guess, too busy working or hanging with the mates or weekends down at the beach to be bothered picking furniture I would actually like.”
‘Thank God’ my girl is thinking, because apart from this view, the place feels very corporate, almost as if they are in a business, not a home. Maybe one day, she could add her own touches. That thought makes her smile grow bigger.
“Oh baby, I have been dreaming of this day since I first laid scent on you. And to now have you here, in our home, well, I’m struggling to maintain my excitement, if you know what I mean.”
“Damn Eight, I know exactly how you feel and so does Alexis if the grin she is wearing is any indication. Do you really think you can stand at half-mast and not have her notice?”
“We weren’t trying to hide it, baby. I’m not the only one struggling to compose myself, but Lane is trying to behave better than he has in the past, because he knows Alexis deserves better, that she deserves the best, so that’s what he intends to give her.”
“I love that we’re here, Eight. It feels right, despite this cold display home atmosphere that is going on in this place.”
“I love that you’re here more than words could ever explain, but I’d be happy to show you after dinner, baby.”
“Cheeky.”
“You know it.”
Lane does indeed behave despite tenting in his slacks; my girl pretends not to notice, sensing he is struggling to behave, but she loves it. The doorbell rings, making her jump. Oh no! I hope it’s not one of his mates. Even though she thinks it would be lovely to meet some of his friends, she kind of has her heart set on spending some quality time getting to know Lane better.
“That would be dinner from the Thai restaurant you like. I hope you don’t mind eating in tonight? I don’t want to share you with anyone at the moment.”
“Staying in sounds perfect, Lane. When did you organise dinner?”
“While you were packing a bag at your apartment, I placed an order. I wanted to feed you dinner as soon as possible, so then I can eat you for desert, for the rest of the night, if that’s okay with you?”
“Damn, Lane. That’s more than okay, as long as there is desert for me too?”
“Oh fuck. I hope you eat fast, Lexi baby.”
Alexis giggles to herself as Lane goes to the door to greet the delivery boy. When he comes back he grabs one of her hands. She thinks he is going to lead her to the grand, black glassed, dining table next to the kitchen, but instead he leads her over to the only comfortable looking piece of furniture in this apartment; a grey coloured sofa with about ten large cushions leaning against its back.
He walks a few steps further and places the bags of food in front of the wall of glass before coming back and walking behind the black coffee table. Alexis has no idea what he’s up to until he bends down and pushes the coffee table until it’s almost up against the glass, then walks to behind the sofa and pushes it until it almost meets the coffee table. He then bends down and picks up the food, pulling out the containers and spreading them out over the table.
“I’ve always wanted to do that.”
The boyish grin that spreads across his face as he says those words has Alexis’s heartbeat racing and not a single bite has been eaten yet. Yes, I hope she eats fast too. Lane goes to the kitchen and returns with plates and cutlery and tells my girl to sit as he dishes up a combination of all her favourite Thai meals. He remembers, which has her heart melting this time. Poor heart is getting a bigger work out than I so far. The race is on. Two to heart, zero to V. Let’s see who the winner is by tomorrow morning, shall we.
“This is so right, Hot Lips. You and Lexi, here, in our home. Home, hah, it’s never really felt like a home until right now. It was just a place to crash, even when Miss Queen Bitch was practically living here for a while and it wasn’t so quiet, it still didn’t feel right. Don’t leave baby, ever.”
“Oh babe, I won’t intentionally leave, I promise. And I agree, this feels right, I can feel Alexis’s every emotion and though she is trying not to get ahead of herself, she’s feeling it too, like this could finally be it and she can’t believe she fought it and nearly lost Lane. I feel this is the start of something beautiful.”
“Damn baby, this could actually be forever.”
“Aww, my man is such a romantic.”
“A romantic that can’t wait to stick his dick in you. Just saying.”
“There’s my man!”
Lane is as relaxed as Alexis has ever seen him. He’s laughing and opening up and is an absolute delight to share company with. But as much as they are both enjoying this simple time together, one amount of pressure is building, starting out as a slow burn and simmering up to almost boiling point. The sexual tension between them is about to fly off the charts.
Lane clears the coffee table of their leftovers and plates and returns with a glass of wine for Alexis and a beer for himself, snuggling up close to her on the sofa, looking out to the spectacular view of the city skyline. He stretches his free arm up and lays it over her shoulder, bringing her closer to his side. She rests her head on his chest and listens to his heart beat … and then things change.
“Is it getting hot in here, Eight?”
“Fuck, I hope so. I want you Hot Lips, I want you now.”
Lane’s fingers
slowly rub circles on the top of Alexis’s arm, causing shivers, which turn into butterflies, which take over her stomach with anticipation of what’s to come next from the man who earlier today declared his love for her. She’s still in disbelief over his words and how true they sounded. And now that she is confident in his feelings for her, she is finally allowing herself to feel her own true feelings.
She knew she was falling and here, right in this moment, with all of her walls completely down in this man’s warm arms, she can finally admit to herself that she loves him also. But, and it’s a big but, fear is holding those words hostage, fear that the past may one day repeat itself, so for now she will hold her emotions close to her heart where they remain safe.
Lane places a soft kiss to her head and she sighs. He then places another at the corner of her eye, then down her cheek and one at the corner of her mouth, before leaning forward and placing his beer on the coffee table, doing the same with her wine glass, as she lifts her head from his solid chest. When he settles back against the sofa he places a hand gently against her cheek.
He stares into her eyes for what seems like eternity, showing her that the love he has declared for her is true, before leaning in and softly placing a kiss to the centre of her lips. He stays there, frozen in time, lingering against her lips, making her feel the passion he has for her lying just under the surface.
Alexis reaches a hand up and behind Lane’s neck, adding the pressure she so desperately craves and that’s all it takes for him to stop behaving. His lips start to move sensually over hers, teasing, taking what he wants, his tongue darting out to lick between her seam. His other hand brushes against her hip as he reaches around to her back, placing it low and pulling her closer to him.
It’s my girl’s brave move of pushing her tongue through his lips that has him breaking the tender moment he has created and turning it into something else, something burning hot. He tugs at her waist, moving her until she straddles him. He pushes firmly at her back until she feels his arousal bulging, rubbing against her centre.
