Faithful

by Bay, Louise

  Just as we were coming to the end of the list I looked up as a huge bouquet of white roses came toward me. Sylvia, one of the other PA’s beamed at me. These just came for you. Looks like someone’s really sorry. She placed them on my desk and winked at me.

  “Charlie’s trying to get you back?” Brendan said incredulously. “What does the card say?” He grabbed it from the cellophane and opened the envelope.

  “Brendan! Give it to me.” I snatched it back, knowing it wouldn’t be an apology and the flowers weren’t from Charlie.

  “Come on, let’s finish off this list.” I said trying to pull his attention back to work.

  “Err no way José. Your drama is much more interesting, I want the next installment. Open the card.”

  How was I going to get out of this? I had no idea what the card would say. With Daniel I could never tell; it could be sweet, loving, or toe-curlingly hot.

  “Come on Brendan, give me a break?”

  “Puhlease. Of course I won’t. Show me the card.”

  He was determined and in an effort for a quiet life I gave in and he took the envelope from my fingers and gleefully slipped out the card as I slumped back into my chair defeated.

  Brendan looked at the card and then looked at me and then back at the card. Then he handed me the card without uttering a word.

  Brendan with nothing to say—that was never good.

  I want people to know you’re taken.

  Dx

  I smiled at his possessiveness. He really did think I spent my whole time in the office flirting. When I looked up I was still smiling and Brendan was looking at me.

  “They’re not from Charlie?” I shook my head. “Who then?” he pressed.

  “No one you know. An old friend.”

  “Leah, come on. You know I need more than that. I want details!”

  “That’s not happening. I want to keep this to myself. Everyone knows about my love life or non-love life around here, and I can’t bear it. I want this to be private.”

  “And that includes private from me?” Brendan looked like he’d been slapped in the face.

  “This is no big deal, just a few dates. If it crashes and burns I don’t want to be embarrassed again. Please don’t hate me; I just can’t bear the humiliation again. I’ve not even spoken to Anna about it.”

  I was lying, but I was doing it to protect his feelings so it felt worth it. I couldn’t admit to myself how serious it had become with Daniel, and I was embarrassed at how quickly it had happened after Charlie. And Daniel didn’t want his office to know which made life easier for me while on the Palmerston deal.

  I absolutely couldn’t tell Brendan the truth. He seemed to understand what I was saying, although I could tell his pride was hurt. He avoided me for most of the rest of the day and said he didn’t have time to finish going through his dating profile. I was a little relieved.

  I had texted Daniel to thank him for the flowers but he hadn’t texted back. Which was fine, I thought. We had agreed to try and not contact each other in working hours after all. Leaving work to heading back to Anna’s I stopped to pick up a bottle of wine. None of the vintage stuff that I’d had over the last few days tonight. If I couldn’t buy it in Tesco Metro we weren’t having it.

  My mobile vibrated: it was a text from Daniel.

  Have a lovely evening with Anna. Miss you. Dx

  What are your plans for this evening? Miss you, too. Lx

  Just work. Dx

  Anna got in a few minutes after me clutching another bottle of wine in her hands. Great minds.

  We changed into our jogging bottoms and got settled in for the night. She explained that she had still managed to avoid seeing Fran, but received an email from her asking her to meet her for a coffee this weekend. I didn’t know what to say. Fran was always more her friend than mine, and I didn’t want to tell her not to be friends with her, but if I said I thought they should meet I’m not sure it would sound genuine.

  “How do you feel about meeting her?”

  “Mixed. I feel disloyal to you. I feel she’s not the sort of person that I want in my life, but I’ve known her a long time and I think maybe I should give her an opportunity to explain.”

  “I won’t feel that you’re being disloyal. You’ve been amazing to me. I couldn’t have asked for any more from you. You have known her a long time. Meeting her doesn’t mean you have to be best friends with her.”

  “Wow, you sound really together.”

  “Do I? It’s just an act!”

  “No, I don’t think it is. I think Daniel’s good for you.”

  “I think so, too.” And I bit back a grin.

  Could I call him? Would that look like I couldn’t cope for an evening without him? I tried to push thoughts of him to the back of my mind and concentrate on Anna.

  “Have you heard from Charlie?” she asked.

  I shook my head. He had replied to my email that I had sent in Mexico agreeing to my suggestions of how to divide the practicalities of the split but there had been no other contact. He had very quickly become my past, my distant past.

  “You don’t feel you need closure?”

  “I think him getting my close friend pregnant was all the closure I needed.” And I started laughing and Anna joined in.

  I crawled into bed shortly before midnight with my phone for company. I’d had a text from Daniel asking me to call him before I went to sleep, so I called and he answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, stranger.”

  “Heyyy stranger, yourself. What ya doin’?” I asked, clearly a couple of glasses of wine past sober.

  “Still in the office. It sounds like you’ve had a nicer evening than me.”

  “It would have been a nicer evening with you.”

  “I just wanted to wish you goodnight, baby. Go to sleep now or you will have a horrible hangover. I need to get on a call with New York, so I should go. Will you stay tomorrow night?”

  I was flustered. I wanted to talk to him all night, but he was distracted.

  “Yes, of course, tomorrow night. Remember I’m at your office all day tomorrow.”

  “How could I forget? I won’t get any work done thinking about you just a few feet away.”

  I smiled. There he was, My Daniel. I pressed cancel on the phone and collapsed into my pillow.

  Chapter Eleven

  I couldn’t wait to get to work the next morning. I felt like I’d been starved of oxygen. I hadn’t seen Daniel for 24 hours: he hadn’t touched me, hadn’t kissed me, hadn’t made me come for longer than I could bear. I was desperate to catch a glimpse of him, however brief. I needed to quench my thirst for him.

  After a brief pre-meeting, David, Deb, and I walked over to the Gematria offices. It was a beautiful sunny day and looking up and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face felt amazing and I couldn’t help but grin to myself. I’d worn another of my wrap dresses. I was going for sexy but professional. I stopped myself from doing downright slutty—which had been my initial instinct—but I knew I could never pull it off. I wanted Daniel to want me as soon as he saw me. I realized that if I was going to stop thinking about him in working hours I needed to feed my need for him in time off. I didn’t want to spend another night away from him.

  Before being shown into our meeting room, we were kept in reception for a few minutes. I kept looking around to see if I could see him, catch that glimpse of him that I was so desperate for. No luck. There was lots of activity, lots of gorgeous young women I noticed jealously, but no Daniel.

  We were shown into our huge meeting room with an incredible view of the City right to the river and beyond, and Jim and Emily came in and greeted us warmly. Jim started to take us through a list of things he thought we should cover today and we got straight down to work.

  About an hour into things, I excused myself and headed to the bathroom, still secretly hoping to see Daniel—or even better, accidently-on-purpose bump into him. But my trip was unsuccessful. No Daniel. I resig
ned myself to actually concentrating on what we were here to do and buried my thoughts of Daniel at the back of my head.

  Shortly after we reconvened after lunch and a couple more necessary trips to the restroom had not uncovered him, the door to the meeting room swung open to reveal Daniel looking heart-stoppingly handsome. His beauty caught me by surprise, as if I were seeing it for the first time, and I could hardly believe my luck—I had been in his bed. He had on my favorite blue suit and I remembered the feel of it on that first night we had been to the Coltrane Club. I smiled and looked down at my papers, being careful not to give myself away.

  “So, how are things going in here?” he addressed Jim, not looking at me. David stood up and shook his hand. I kept my head down, pretending to read the document in front of me. His voice was slightly different: Work Daniel. He was these guys’ boss—I suppose playful Daniel or sexy Daniel would be slightly inappropriate. But Work Daniel was hot—the power suited him.

  “Good, we’re making progress. I’ll need to run through the list of names we have for the due diligence interviews to ensure you’re happy with it, but I can do that with you tomorrow. I’m just about to leave for a meeting in the West End.”

  “I’m free at 4 p.m. Have Leah bring it to me. I don’t want to lose pace.” And with that he swept out.

  When 4 p.m. arrived I was a little nervous. I was really trying to keep my work head on me during office hours, trying to keep Daniel in a box, ready to open and enjoy later. This meeting could open that box and blur the boundaries. But I was sure he would be busy and could only spare me a few moments and it would be fine. I was desperate to see him.

  I took the list, my notepad, and pen, and found his PA sitting outside his office. His door was shut but she greeted me brightly and led me right in.

  “Ah, Leah, good, come in.” Gail, his PA, hovered in the doorway.

  “Thank you for seeing me … er … Mr. Armitage.” He tried to suppress a grin at our formal exchange but didn’t correct me.

  “Can I get you any drinks? Tea, coffee?” Gail smiled warmly, her eyes darting between the two of us. We both declined and Daniel stood up and closed the door and locked it behind her as she left. Hmm, that didn’t seem very business as usual.

  “Do you have your list, Leah? Please set it on my desk.” Oh, he was still Work Daniel. I was a little disappointed, but I pulled the list from my papers and walked over to the desk. He came up behind me and moved me so I was standing facing the back of his desk and my flesh tingled at his touch. He didn’t invite me to sit down, so I guess he wanted this meeting to be quick.

  “So, the first name is?” I expected Daniel to retake his seat and inspect the list, but he didn’t move from behind me.

  I reached across his desk for the list to turn it around so I could read it and he took the opportunity to push me further forward so I was bent completely over the desk. He placed my forearms on the desk either side of the list. I gasped, but Daniel meant business—he splayed his hand on my back, ensuring I stayed put. My god, what was he going to do, here in his office, with people constantly walking by and his PA sitting right outside? I inhaled, and felt myself moisten with anticipation.

  “The first name, Leah?”

  “E-Edward Lockton,” I stuttered.

  Daniel pushed up my skirt to my waist and, without missing a beat, mused, “Yes, that makes sense. The next?”

  He ripped my wet panties from me and I felt a coolness as I adjusted to my lack of underwear.

  I tried to focus on the next name. “Jill Elliot,” I said unsteadily, trying to suppress my urge to groan as Daniel thrust two fingers straight into me without warning.

  “Hmm, interesting. The next?” His fingers started a rhythmic dance in and out.

  “David Green.”

  I couldn’t hear my voice coming out as the blood was booming in my ears but my mouth seemed to move through the names.

  As Daniel reached his other hand around me and found my clitoris I lost the power of speech.

  “Leah, the next name,” he reprimanded.

  “I’m sorry … Mr. Armitage … it’s Ben Amos.”

  His desire seemed heightened by words and he grunted, but his fingers left me suddenly. Before I had a chance to turn to see what was next he pushed himself hard into me, pushing me off my elbows. He repositioned me quickly, and holding my shoulders for resistance, thrust again and again.

  “Yes, Ben should be on there. Who else?”

  I was overwhelmed by his steady tone and the feeling of his relentless cock, slamming into me over and over, but I refocused and I tried to keep my voice steady. I kept reading out the names. He approved each one while he slid in and out of me.

  My whole body was on fire. What we were doing felt so illicit. His complete control of me, of himself, was more than I could bear. I felt myself begin to contract around him and he felt it, too, as he picked up his rhythm. The proximity of my climax made me forget where I was and I finally gave in and moaned.

  “Quiet, Leah. The next name?” His verbal acknowledgement of our physical act ended me.

  “I’m sorry … sir,” I cried out breathlessly, unable to see the final name on the list as my orgasm crashed over me. Behind me I felt the last desperate thrusts of Daniel’s climax.

  We stayed silent, joined together, catching our breath. Daniel withdrew from me and I heard him zip up his trousers and tuck in his shirt. I couldn’t move; I didn’t know if I should. He pulled down my skirt and pulled me up from the desk, his body still behind me and briefly kissed me on the top of my head. He released his hands from around my waist and moved back toward his chair.

  He turned his attention to his computer. “You need to add David Richards and Matt Barnes to that list, and then I think you’ve got everyone. Thanks, Leah, excellent meeting.”

  Feeling incredibly well-fucked, I replied confidently, “It was my pleasure, Mr. Armitage.” Daniel smiled at his computer screen as I left.

  As I closed the door behind me Gail smiled sweetly, “Did you get everything you needed?”

  I was caught a bit off balance. Had she heard anything? “Err, yes, I think I have everything. Thanks Gail.”

  I went straight to the bathroom and removed my panties; they were destroyed so I threw them in the bin and tidied myself up before heading back to the big meeting room. I was sure I smelled of him, of his sweat and his come between my thighs. The thought made my knees weak and before they buckled I scrambled to my chair.

  “You OK, Leah?” David asked me, watching me intently.

  “Yes, fine. Just a little overwhelmed. We have such a lot to do.”

  He smiled and nodded and I started sorting through some of the materials that we’d been given during the course of the day, trying to act as if my mind was on the job.

  Back at the office I plowed through my emails and when I next looked at the clock it was 7 p.m. I grabbed my phone to see if Daniel had contacted me. I’d agreed that I would stay with him tonight, but we’d not agreed timings. There was a text from him.

  The car is outside. When you are ready, Phil will take you to Anna’s to collect your things and then bring you home to me. Dx

  I scrambled to log out of my computer. I couldn’t get out of there quickly enough.

  When the car pulled up outside Daniel’s house I felt a swell of nervousness in my stomach. Daniel’s driver carried my bag up the steps and let himself in, putting my bag in the hall and wishing me a goodnight before he turned and left.

  Where was Daniel? He didn’t seem to be downstairs in the open plan area. Not wanting to shout out to him I went looking for him, eventually finding him in his study. He didn’t see me. He was staring intently into the screen on his computer. I leant against the door frame, taking him in. It was so good to be able to unabashedly gaze at him.

  “Hey, stranger,” he said without turning around.

  “Hey.” I moved across to him and slid my arms around his waist.

  He twisted toward me, too
k my face in his hands, and crashed his lips against mine. He ran his tongue along the inside of my top lip and darted in and out of my mouth, teasing my tongue. He kissed me like it was our first kiss and it seemed to last forever. It was such a contrast to our earlier, urgent fucking that it took me by surprise a little.

  “Hmm, I needed that.” Daniel sighed as he pulled away looking at me. “Let’s have dinner. I’ve had my housekeeper prepare something but I have no idea what it is—we should investigate.”

  “Your housekeeper?”

  “Yes, Mrs. Bayliss. She cooks for me if I ask her to.”

  “Oh,” was all I could say. I’d never met anyone with a housekeeper before, but I guess if you lived in a house like this, a housekeeper was a natural accoutrement. Suddenly his revelation really bothered me. “I really don’t know anything about you, do I?”

  He looked confused. “I’m not hiding anything, Leah; we’ve just been busy with more pressing priorities than discussing my housekeeper.” He chuckled and pulled me toward him burying his face in my neck and kissing me to distraction. I relented and pushed my hands through his hair, savoring the silkiness. God, he felt good. No wonder I didn’t know about his housekeeper. I could no longer think about anything but his mouth on me.

  His hands were roaming further and further down my body and I could see where this was headed. Not that I wanted it to be headed anywhere else but neither did I want our relationship to just be about sex. I pulled him away.

  “Let’s eat.” I said to him. “We have plenty of time tonight.” I could tell he wanted more, the evidence was right there in front of me, tempting me to touch him but I resisted. He took a deep breath and we set about dishing up the dinner left by Mrs. Bayliss.

  We caught up on our day. Neither of us mentioned what had happened in his office. I told him about Brendan’s pouting over me not telling him who my flowers were from. After dinner, we moved to the biggest of his sofas and he motioned for me to tuck in under his shoulder as we sat leaning into each other, our legs extended on the footstool that was nearly as long as the sofa itself.

  I gave him a run down on my evening with Anna and how she was considering meeting with Fran. He didn’t pass comment on whether he thought Anna should meet her or not. His attention was focused elsewhere.