“Me?” I raised my eyebrows. “I just came to tell you goodnight.”
The curl in his lips became larger. “Indeed you did.”
He continued dressing himself, slowly buttoning his shirt and pulling his tie back around his neck. I watched him, completely shocked at what I’d just done.
Gavin’s ability to act so casual about the entire thing took me by surprise. He acted like it was no big deal that we’d just had sex on top of his desk.
My thoughts snowballed and I wondered if this made me no better than Nicole, or even worse, Trisha. I was in shock that I had just let this man seduce me in his office. I looked around the room. Had I seriously just had the best orgasm of my life at work?
My pulse sped up. Someone had to have heard us. The way he was slamming me down on his desk and against the wall; his buckle hitting the desk, my vocalization of how good he felt in me.
Oh, my God!
I was slightly ashamed and worried what Gavin would think about me letting him get away with that. I wasn’t a whore, but how in the hell could I expect him to believe that when I acted the way I did with him? I had no control when it came to him.
My concern must have shown on my face because Gavin came over to me. He wrapped his tie around itself, adjusted the knot close to his neck, and placed his hands on my arms. His thumbs gently rubbed across my skin, pressing his fingers against the side of my neck briefly, almost as though he was trying to feel my pulse. He searched my eyes and I could tell he was trying to read the thoughts that where whirling around in my head.
His hand left my neck and reached back down to straighten his tie. “What’s wrong?” he said.
“Nothing,” I shook my head trying to reassure him — and myself — that everything was fine.
Squinting, he cocked his head to the side. “You’ve a look on your face that says otherwise.”
I shook my head again and said, “Just concerned about how I’m gonna sneak out of your office without someone seeing.”
Gavin drew in a long breath and a serious, business-like look fell over his face. I could tell by that look that he didn’t believe me. His hand fell to his side and found its way inside his pant pocket.
“You can tell me no — you know that, right?” he said.
“I know,” I replied.
Like hell I can!
I ran my hand through my hair, trying to smooth it out so it didn’t look like I’d just been thrown across his desk and fucked up against a wall.
Wrapping his arms around me, he pulled me in close to him. The smell of his cologne was becoming familiar to me, as was how perfect it felt when he held me so close.
“I really like you, Brooke. You don’t need to worry about that.” He backed away and slid his hand down to my waist. Sitting back against the edge of his desk, he said, “This entire thing is out of the ordinary for me too.” He paused and pushed my hair behind my ear. “I can assure you I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“Like what? Screw somebody in your office?”
He let out a slight laugh. “No, most certainly not that.” His gaze fell to the floor. “I’ve never been in any type of relationship with –” He brought his eyes to mine and seemed to peer through me. “Someone from work. I’ve never felt the need to have someone the way I do with you. The attraction I have to you is indescribable.” His lips pursed. “I just worry that you’re unsure of my intentions. You shouldn’t be worried about that, okay?” Leaning toward me, he lightly touched his lips to mine.
“Well, you should know that I’ve never done anything like this before either. I’m usually able to exercise a little more restraint, but you —” I paused as I looked at him. “I think I can control it, and then you open your mouth with that sexy voice of yours and I’m done.”
Gavin laughed and ran his hand across the top of his head.
I glanced over toward the door. “Okay, so are you gonna get me outta here, because I would be pretty embarrassed if Dr. Knight caught me in here.”
“Right, I guess you should be going, aye?” Bending down, he picked up the note that had been slid underneath his door. He scanned the note and closed his eyes, taking in a short breath as he read over it.
Whatever was written on the note had made Gavin agitated.
“What?” I asked.
He shook the note in his hand. “Oh, I’ve been volunteered to go to dinner tomorrow before the event with Scott and several of the psychiatrists that he’s wanting to help with this grant I’m writing.” He tossed the folded piece of paper on his desk. “If I wanted to have dinner with those damn people I would’ve arranged a dinner myself.”
He was overly frustrated about a dinner invitation. “It’s just dinner…” I began.
“Yes, with people whom I care nothing about being forced to interact with.” Gavin unlocked his door. “I’m going to go discuss this wonderful turn of events with Scott. Wait until you hear the two of us speaking and then you should be safe to leave. No one else stays here this late.” He leaned down and gave me another short kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow, love.”
He opened the door and walked down the hall.
I stood in Gavin’s office, nervously picking at my nails. I heard him knock on Dr. Knight’s door. “Scott?” Gavin paused and I heard the door hinge creak as it was pushed open. “You’re wanting to have a dinner tomorrow?”
I could barely make out what Dr. Knight was saying. “Yes. I figured it would give the two of us a chance to discuss grants with Amy and Will.” The door shut.
I grabbed my purse and tiptoed out of Gavin’s office, picking up speed as I rounded the corner toward the hallway. A devilish grin came over my face as I thought about what Gavin and I had just done. I knew how terribly wrong it was, but the thrill of it all was absolutely exhilarating.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Brooke
July 26, 2014
“You’re gonna have to suck it in some more. I can’t get it to zip,” I told Constance as I tugged at the zipper of her bright green dress. “Oh — my — God, could you’ve bought anything tighter than this?” I gave one final tug and the zipper finally closed.
I was taking Constance as my plus one for the event. I figured I’d need some form of entertainment to distract me from Gavin, and since Ashley was taking Colton I knew she’d be no help at all.
Constance pulled away from me. “It was seventy-five percent off! Plus, it fit just fine when I didn’t have this padded bra on,” she said as she turned sideways and placed her hands underneath her breasts gently lifting them with her hands. She smiled at her reflection. “Big boobs make everything look better!”
I shook my head and picked my red dress up from the bed. It was a one-shoulder, full-length satin dress with ruching on the sides.
I’d come home that Friday afternoon and, just as Gavin had promised, found a white box with a red bow wrapped around it waiting at my door. Inside the box was the red dress with a note from Gavin telling me he wanted me to wear it to the Gala.
I stepped into the dress and pulled it up, sliding my arm through the sleeve and straightening it out. The dress clung to the curves of my body perfectly.
“Holy hell, Brooke!” Constance’s jaw dropped as she looked at the dress. “That’s what he gave you?”
I nodded and ran my hands along the smooth fabric.
“It looks expensive, and damn, you look hot. Makes me almost want to do you,” Constance said, pulling curlers from her blonde hair. “Bet Gavin will be all over you tonight.”
I pinned half of my hair up with some bobby pins, pulling a few stray curls out from the grip of the pins to frame my face.
“Well, he can’t.” I glared at Constance, hoping to make her understand how serious this topic was. “Remember, we aren’t supposed to be —” I paused trying to think of the appropriate title for what we were. “To be… doing whatever we’re doing,” I said, frustrated.
“Fucking each other
’s brains out — in the office? That’s what you’re doing, in case you forgot.”
“Yeah, that. So, I can’t act any differently around him than I do around anyone else from work.”
“God, this is going to be a disaster,” Constance grumbled as she sat on the edge of my unmade bed and strapped her silver shoes on.
“A disaster? No, it’s not. We just have to ignore each other.”
“Yeah, right! I’m sure you’re gonna be able to do that. Have you seen the man in a tuxedo before? Huh?” she asked as she placed a hand on her hip.
I bit my lip just thinking about him dressed up like that. “No.”
Constance threw her hands in the air and stood up, testing her walk in the tall heels. She glanced at me over her shoulder and said, “Exactly! I’m gonna be a fucking babysitter, trying to reel you in all night and keep you from outing yourself.”
I took a final glance at my reflection and walked to my closet to strap on my gold heels.
“What the hell kind of music are you listening to?” Constance asked as she walked over to my iHome and looked at the screen. “The Deftones, huh? Never knew you listened to that stuff.”
“Gavin likes it. He listens to it all the time, so I downloaded some songs. Makes me think about him.” I smiled slightly, waiting on her to make some smart ass comment about my being obsessed with him, but she just rolled her eyes and headed to my living room.
She yelled back at me, “Get your fuck-me shoes on and let’s get outta here. I’m ready for the free drinks.”
Turning off the light, I walked into my kitchen and grabbed my keys from the laminate countertop. “Are we supposed to ride with Colton and Ashley, did they ever decide?” I asked.
“No, they just said they’d meet us there.” Constance reached down to my coffee table and picked up the book she’d left there. “You read any of it yet?
“A few chapters,” I said, pouring some food in Simon’s bowl.
She flipped the pages of the book and giggled, “Oh, just wait. It gets pretty intense. I wore the batteries on BOB out.”
I shook my head. “You know, I really am so thankful that you like to discuss your habitual masturbation with me. Makes me feel so close to you. Really!” I opened the door and stepped out into the muggy summer evening.
Constance followed me and shut my door.
“Make sure it’s locked,” I said as I made my way through the parking lot.
She jiggled the knob. “It’s locked. How’s my discussing the fact that I masturbate on a regular basis any different than you giving me extremely explicit details of your sexcapades with Gavin?”
Opening the car door, I said, “I don’t know…it just is.”
“Like hell it is,” she said as she climbed into the driver’s seat.
We pulled up in front of an old brick building in the middle of downtown Atlanta. The outside was lit by landscaping lights and people were gathered around the entrance.
Constance glanced over at me. “Valet parking? Oh, this is freakin’ fancy.” Her car came to a stop and the valet opened her door. Constance handed him her keys and said, “Now, don’t be taking her out for a joy ride. She’s one of a kind.”
A second valet opened my door and I climbed out, my heels wobbling underneath me.
I watched Constance gracelessly fumble out of her car. “We look ridiculous,” I said.
Her eyebrows pulled down and she looked over at me. “What? I think we look pretty damn amazing!”
“Here we are, in full evening attire, climbing out of your demolition Jetta so that it can be valet parked next to all the Mercedes and BMWs.” I laughed again. “God, we’re so outta place. We’re not grown up enough for this.”
Constance’s heels wiggled underneath her feet as she tried to steady herself on the slanted concrete. “Yeah, well, at least you’re banging one of the people driving those fancy cars. I’m just gonna get to listen to all of them tell me I look familiar because I wait on them when they have dinner.”
I pushed her shoulder lightly with my hand. “Hush.”
We walked up to the entrance and gave our names to a middle-aged woman seated at a long banquet table set up just inside the entrance.
“Enjoy your evening, ladies,” she said, dusting the shoulder of her cream-colored dress off.
The place was large and open. The floor was a pale colored marble and there were several long stairs leading to the ballroom. The music was barely audible over the rumble of various conversations being held amongst the crowded room. I immediately scanned over the room for Gavin. I couldn’t wait to see how exquisitely handsome he looked, but I couldn’t find him.
Constance waved her arm around in the air. “There’s Ashley and Colton,” she said. A waiter walked by with a tray of wine. She grabbed two glasses and handed one to me. “Come on,” she demanded, dragging me up the stairs.
I kept searching through the crowd but didn’t see Gavin, and a face as striking as his would be hard to miss. I saw Ashley and Colton standing over to the side of the room. Ashley had on a short, fitted black dress with a single diagonal white stripe going across it. Colton actually looked pretty attractive in his black suit.
The fact that I had just thought of the word “attractive” as an adjective to describe Colton made my skin crawl.
“Hey, guys,” Ashley said as we came up to them. “Oh, Brooke, that dress is gorgeous, I love it.”
“Thanks,” I replied. “You look great too.”
I cut my eyes over at Colton and complimented him as best I could stand. “You clean up pretty nice there. Thank you for not wearing your eyeliner.” I shot him a smart ass smile.
Colton mumbled, “Yeah, I was going to, but Ash talked me out of it.” He forced a smile.
It was evident that he wasn’t thrilled about being there, much less being dressed up.
Turning my head, I combed the crowded room again for Gavin.
“He’s not here yet,” Ashley said as she leaned over toward me. “I haven’t seen anyone else from the office.”
I redirected my gaze to the front and saw Dr. Knight and who I assumed was his wife making their way up the stairs leading to the ballroom. Dr. Knight looked the same as always. He had a pious look on his face that even a formal event didn’t soften. His wife was clutched to his arm. She had on a strappy, canary yellow dress and her auburn hair was pinned to the side with a rhinestone embedded clasp. She was much more beautiful and younger than I’d expected.
“Is that his wife?” I asked Ashley. I knew I had a stunned expression on my face.
“Yep. That’s her.” She paused, “Not what you expected, right?”
“Not at all. What’s wrong with these women? He’s disgusting.”
Ashley rolled her big brown eyes. “I don’t know. Money?” she suggested as she stood up on the toes of her shoes, frantically looking around the crowded room.
I stared at his wife and felt pity for her. I couldn’t help but think of my mother, of how hurt she was by the things my father had done. I’d seen my mother forced to attend events like these with my father. I vividly remembered how nervous she would get as she’d dressed. I know my mother must have been trying to look her best to try to impress my father’s mistress. I wondered if Mrs. Knight had done the same thing.
A huge sneer formed on Ashley’s face and her eyes grew wide, sparkling with excitement. “Where’s Nicole?” She asked and rubbed the palms of her hands together like someone who’d just devised some evil scheme. She shook her hands with delight when spotted Nicole standing across the room from us. The exhilaration in her voice was evident as she squealed, “Oh, there she is.”
She pointed at Nicole and some guy across the room.
My eyes followed the path of her finger and I saw Nicole standing with her arms crossed in front of her. She had on a tight black dress and black heels. Her long brown hair had been pulled away from her face and her eyes were locked on Dr. Knight.
Her chest expanded when she glanced over at him and his wife.
“Who’s the guy with her?” I asked.
Ashley’s gaze was unfaltering as she responded to my question, “Don’t know, don’t care… he’s probably some stupid guy she brought to try and make Dr. Knight jealous.”
Constance had been standing next to me listening the entire time. She needed to make sure she had her story straight. “What? Isn’t she the one who’s screwing the old geezer in the office?”
Ashley lips stretched across her face. “Oh, yeah, but you see, Dr. Knight isn’t gonna ruin his marriage for Nicole. She’s nothing more than a piece of hot ass for him. That’s all they do is fuck. They can’t have a relationship, I mean, how could they? They can’t see each other outside of work.”
A sinking feeling hit my stomach as Ashley spoke. At times I caught myself fearing that Gavin and I had nothing more than Nicole and Dr. Knight, and to hear it put the way Ashley had just stated it made me sick. I didn’t want to be just another stupid girl.
Ashley continued, swapping her gaze back and forth between Nicole and Dr. Knight. “Nicole just wants to make him jealous.”
Ashley stopped talking and glared at me. I must have been wearing my insecurities all over my face because Ashley felt the need to explain what she’d meant. “They can’t have a relationship because of his wife, Brooke. You and Gavin aren’t the same. Dr. Knight’s done this before, with other women. Gavin’s never even had a girlfriend that I’ve known of since I started working here.”
I skimmed over at Nicole and saw her give the random guy at her side a kiss. As soon as she pulled away her eyes locked onto Dr. Knight and his wife once more. Dr. Knight never even glanced in her direction.
“She’s such a dumbass,” Ashley laughed. “So stupid.”
Looking back down to the entrance, I spotted Gavin.
My heart beat faster as I watched him give his name to the lady at the table. His tuxedo was fitted just right and his hair was tightly pulled away from his face. He was freshly shaven and his jawline stood out against the collar of his white dress shirt. Even from one hundred feet away you could see the brilliance of his eyes standing out from his olive complexion.
Bound to the Fallen (Prophecy #2) Page 24
