I ran my hand over his bulge, deliciously hard. It was all the answer I needed.
He scooped me up and carried me to the couch. Once there, he set me down on my feet and kissed down my neck before sliding his lips over my collarbone. Air caressed my skin as he worked my blouse open. Then his hands felt up the outside of my thighs.
I worked his buttons down, opening his shirt to reveal smooth skin. His glorious pecs and cut abs greeted me. I kissed down his chest as I undid his pants. Reaching in, I captured his smooth shaft.
He moaned softly. I stroked as I ran my tongue around first one of his nipples, then the other. I ran my palm over his pec again. His chest might’ve been cut from stone; it was so perfect while being intoxicatingly warm.
I straightened up to capture his lips. I lifted my skirt so his manhood could reach between my thighs, rubbing just right.
“We need to go easy, okay, baby?” Hunter murmured, lowering himself to sit on the couch.
“Not that easy,” I responded, straddling him. I gyrated my hips forward, reaching behind me and through my legs, capturing his hard cock against my lace-covered core. I kissed him harder, needing him. Loving him with everything I had and wanting to show it.
Without preamble, I pulled my panties to the side and angled up. His tip slid across my wetness. I moaned, directing it to my opening, and then sat down.
“Hmm, Livy,” Hunter said against my lips. “I love you.”
I ran my fingers through his hair as I let my head fall back, savoring the feeling of him filling me up. I moved my hips in a slow circle, enjoying the friction. Feeling the intimacy with Hunter, I rose before lowering again, straight down, taking him deeply into me. I moaned as my body tightened up.
I pushed his head back so I had better access to his lips. I took him deep before backing off. Deep again, then back, loving the feeling of him inside me. I nibbled his lips as cracks started to work through me, the pleasure coursing, eroding my control. The kisses became more fervent. I invaded his mouth with my tongue as I moved up and down.
“Oh,” I sighed, the desire rushing now. My movements became rougher. I sat and pulled back up, tightening up. Needing him. Needing to finish.
“Yes, Hunter,” I exulted, closing my eyes and tugging on his hair. I crashed into him now, everything condensing. My body on fire. His lips on mine. “Oh, yes. Just a bit—”
I squeezed my eyes shut as the pleasure turned white hot. I panted, my heart beating faster, love filling me up. The sensations unfurled and took me higher. Blanking out my mind. All I knew was him and pleasure.
“Almost… Almost…” I strove harder, him inside of me, the friction exquisite. The couch squealed as it rocked against the floor.
I blasted apart, everything exploding into pleasure so intense it fused my jaw shut. Every muscle flexed over him. I shook with my release as he tensed in climax under me, the orgasm so intense I couldn’t even cry out.
I slumped forward. Another wave of pleasure washed over me, making me tremble. Finally, I started to relax in the glow of one awesome fucking orgasm.
“Holy crap.” I gave another little tremor as I melted around him.
“We should fight more often. Makeup sex really is everything it’s made out to be.”
I laughed softly and threw my arms around him. “I love you, Hunter.”
He kissed me softly and sat idly for a moment. I knew his mind had probably already turned to work, but he was giving me a second in the afterglow. It was quite a difference from the first time we were together.
“How do you feel?” Hunter asked after a few minutes of quiet. “Any cramping or signs of danger?”
“I feel good. No discomfort. No pain.”
“Good.” He kissed my temple and I knew he’d reached his limit.
I got up with a grin. “You made it five minutes that time. That has to be a record.”
His scowl wasn’t the response I was looking for. “I’m not in the habit of taking my time when the door is unlocked during working hours. I can make it up to you tonight…”
“Ha!” My blurted laugh made him scowl harder. “I wasn’t commenting on your sexual prowess.” I laughed a little harder as he helped me put my clothes back on. “I meant afterward. You hung out longer instead of running back to your desk.”
“Oh.” His expression cleared. A twinkle infused his eyes but he didn’t say anything else. Instead, he finished straightening up before he finally made his way to his computer.
Even the great Hunter Carlisle, Sex God Extraordinaire, got twinges of performance anxiety. Who would’ve thought?
Still chuckling, I made my way back to my desk. Before I reached the door, though, Hunter said, “I’ll see you at home.”
I stopped with my hand on the door. “Huh?”
He looked up from his desk. “Your day officially ends at six o’clock, like Brenda. I want you to leave at the end of the day. No exceptions.”
“But I still have—”
“No exceptions,” he repeated in that commanding tone. He turned back to his computer. That was that.
He was employing the ol’ force Olivia’s hand technique. Sneaky.
And I knew, sooner rather than later, it would be effective.
I put everything away and made my way home. It was time to put the big-girl panties on for a second time, and do the scary thing. I was about to choose my future.
Chapter Six
I was sitting with the letter on my desk as Brenda walked up with the mug of coffee. She put the white porcelain in front of me and stared, as she basically did every morning these days. My life was her largest source of entertainment.
“You need a life,” I said.
“I have a life. A boring one. What’s the look for?”
“Nothing.” I looked at that stark white envelope. “Just going out on a limb.”
“Did you get a visit from Ed McMahon?”
“Who?” I checked my ranking. The game was still on top of the charts, puffing out its feathers with pride.
“I hate it when you make me feel old.” Brenda walked to her desk. “What’s on the day’s agenda?”
I took a deep breath, picked up the envelope, and stood. “You won’t like today’s agenda much. I’ll let it be a surprise.”
I ignored her rumpled brow as I made my way into Hunter’s office. Friday was a good day to quit.
I put the mug down in its place. I laid the envelope a little further in. Then I turned and got out of there like the coward I was. Back at my desk, I stood with a stiff back, opening and closing my hands to expel some nervous energy. I couldn’t believe I was doing this. This was a huge risk. I might lose my new job. Hunter might find a secretary he wanted to date instead of me. The sky might fall. All terrifying thoughts.
I sat and stared at my computer. I kind of hoped he looked at the resignation letter right away. This was a loaded situation.
“Wait…should I have told him in person that I was resigning?” I had asked my computer, but Brenda didn’t know that.
“You what?” She swiveled toward me. “Get back in there and burn that envelope. You can’t resign!”
I grimaced at her. She scowled back.
“What are you going to do instead?” Her gaze hit my phone. “Oh, poo. You’re going to do that game thing, aren’t you? Damn it. You like that better. Are you getting paid? You don’t want to just keep doing it on the side? No, you probably can’t, can you. Hunter won’t let you go gray this early in life. Well, shoot. This puts me in a pickle.”
“Are you talking to me or yourself right now?”
She shook her head at me. “Selfish.”
“Wanting to be happy is selfish?”
“When it makes me have to work harder, yes. You should sacrifice for me.” She leaned against her desk. The grumpiness didn’t clear from her face. “Are you excited or is Hunter making you quit?”
“He is making me choose. I’m sure he’s not going to dump me if I don’t work here, so I f
igured I’d do the thing I liked better. He said I could work in his office, though. I can visit.”
Her eyebrows arched. “I wouldn’t if I were you. He’ll hire someone that’s not as smart as you, and then you’ll just have to help her do a mere fraction of your job. You should stay away until the new hire finds her feet.”
“Uh huh. Back to the original question, should I’ve told him in person? I probably should’ve.”
“Couldn’t you have told him at home? Why so professional all of a sudden? But yes, you should’ve had a meeting and told him in person before you handed in the letter.”
“Oh.” I stood, a ball of nerves all of a sudden. I peeked into his office. I could just make out his broad shoulders still turned toward the glare of his computer. I walked in gingerly. I could probably snatch the letter back and do a meeting, but he knew it was coming. It’d be best if I just tossed it out there. When you were screwing your boss, professionalism wasn’t the order of the day.
As I neared the desk, though, I saw the letter open, pushed off to the side. It rested on the open envelope.
I paused.
He glanced up, and then sat back, clasping his hands in his lap. Neither of us spoke.
I cleared my throat. Then pointed vaguely toward his desk. “You, ah…read the letter, then.”
“Yes. I’ve put in for a temporary employee. Or will, I should say. I’m proud of you. I think you made the right choice.”
I straightened up a little. That was nice to hear. “You’re not mad that I’m leaving you in the lurch?”
“Not at all. I expected this. I’ll start interviews right away. As soon as I can get someone reasonable, you can train him or her, and then leave. Most of your job isn’t something a regular admin can do. You’ve been doing tasks above your pay grade.”
“And above my intelligence level, I know.”
His eyes twinkled but he said nothing.
He wasn’t supposed to agree with me.
“Are you calling me dumb?” I said, cocking my hip to the right.
“You were able to do every task I set you. If they were above your intelligence level, you wouldn’t have been able to. Modesty just wastes time.”
“You could do with a little modesty, actually,” I muttered.
A smile curved his lips. “Are you confident with this decision?”
I shook my hand, palm up then down. “So-so. Bruce is bankrolling my salary right now. This might not pan out.”
“Investors are bankrolling your salary.”
“Still. It might not pan out. Then what will I do for money? This is kind of a big risk. I never would’ve done this if you hadn’t pushed me to it.”
“Money is not a concern of yours, Olivia. I’ll guarantee income. You need to focus on your happiness.”
My heart warmed. I leaned against the chair facing his desk. “That’s nice. It doesn’t really apply, but it’s nice.”
“Why doesn’t it apply?”
I hesitated. To me it was pretty obvious. If the worst happened, I needed to look after myself. We weren’t married—his money wasn’t mine. I made my own way in life. If Hunter did a one-eighty, I’d need something to fall back on, and my savings right now weren’t big enough.
I couldn’t say any of that, though. He wouldn’t understand, and because of that, I’d sound like I was hinting for a proposal. I’d already triggered enough of his hang-ups—a week of smooth sailing would be nice before I pushed something like that on him.
“I just want to do well at this game,” I said to deflect.
He looked at me for a while in silence, his expression blank. I had no idea what he was thinking. Finally, he said, “Did you need anything else?”
“No. I was just making sure you got the letter. Brenda said I should’ve had a meeting…”
“I pressured you into this. A meeting might have been overkill.” He turned back to his computer.
“Wow. Mr. Charming today, huh?” I turned and made my way back to my computer. I was pretty sure normal resignations didn’t go like that. Still, it was done.
The weeks went by relatively quickly. While I was supposed to leave work at six, Hunter didn’t enforce quitting time once I’d decided to leave the company. Instead, he had me help with finding my replacement. To the surprise and confusion of his peers, he chose an older woman with a husband and kids. It was the first time in years Hunter hadn’t hired a beautiful, young assistant. Brenda said there was a lot of gossip, but since no one said anything directly to me, I ignored it.
I trained the new assistant as best I could. He’d been right, though. The stuff she had to do was basically fielding questions. Instead of tweaking budgets or creating marketing timelines, she was instructed to send those tasks to the respective VPs to be handled in-department. The result would be a much slower turnaround, but less actual work for that admin.
Once I’d finished training my replacement, and stopped working for Hunter, it was just me and my laptop. I could get up whenever I wanted. I could wear yoga pants and a holey shirt all day if I felt like it. To do actual work, I could stay in the house, go to the beach, or whatever. The world was my oyster.
I’d never been so lonely during the workday. I’d also never missed Hunter more. I even missed Brenda’s surly attitude or Bert driving me into work. I loved my new job, but I missed having coworkers to talk to.
And now here I was, two months after I’d quit, making my way to the place I chose to work more often than not.
“Livy, let me get that!” Bert hurried around the car toward me. He took my computer from my shoulder and then took me by the arm, escorting me to the car.
Bert had not recovered from my scare. He thought I was breakable, and once I’d started to show, the man was worse than Hunter.
“It’s not heavy, Bert,” I protested as he led me to the passenger seat. He opened the door before handing me in, then stowed my computer in the backseat.
“How are you today, Livy?”
“I’m okay. I have to go up a size in clothes.” I bit my lip to stop my smile. I had a baby bump! I still half couldn’t believe it.
“My wife used to love Gap. They’re expensive, though.”
“I think Hunter told Janelle to get a bunch of stuff. He doesn’t trust me to get the best.”
Bert smiled. “I should’ve known, yeah. At least you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Exactly. I wasn’t complaining.”
“How’s he doing? He’s working long hours, huh?”
I looked out the window. Yes, he was. Very long. He left the house at six most days and didn’t get back until ten or eleven. He came home a smidgeon earlier on Sunday, but otherwise, he worked seven days a week.
“Have you ever seen him look so tired?” I asked.
“Sometimes, if he’s got something stressful going on, but…”
I nodded, because I knew what he was going to say. Hunter had stress and tired lines under his eyes and lining his face. This pace was taking its toll. For a man that had made work his whole life, it said something that what he was putting himself through now was wearing him out.
“I just don’t understand,” I said to Bert. “What is he doing that takes this many hours?”
“Have you asked?”
“Yes. He just says to give him time. That’s it. He needs time to get everything organized. The man can plan out a whole chess game after my first move, so I know he’s got something figured out, but… I don’t know. I’m worried and feel responsible at the same time.”
“He’s getting everything ready for you and the baby. I remember working a lot of hours when my wife was expecting our first. I was trying to get enough for a house. I did it, too.”
“I know. Bruce said something similar. But Hunter has a house. A few houses. And cars. And a bunch of crap he doesn’t need.”
“I don’t know, Livy. I’ve never understood him. Ask Brenda.”
“I have. She’s really tight-lipped about it. She know
s something, but that woman is a vault. It’s annoying.”
A laugh died in the back of Bert’s throat as we pulled up to the building. Before I could say anything, he was out of the car and hurrying to my side. He grabbed my computer and helped me out of the car.
“Seriously, Bert, I can manage. Wait until I get really big before you hem and haw.”
“Okay, Livy.” He held the door open before following me in.
I held out my hand for my computer. Just like yesterday, and the day before, and every day since I’d decided to spend my time coding here, he ignored my hand and followed behind me.
Yes, this was the definition of crazy—doing the same thing and expecting different results. But I really hoped that someday he’d catch on.
I rolled my eyes as he waited right behind me for the elevator. Then followed me in.
“You need to get a little dog,” Brenda said as I came into sight. She looked over her half-moon glasses at me. “Usually the big bodyguards are carrying the celebrity’s dog.”
“He followed me in again. I had no choice.”
“I know. But you need to get a dog. Do you not listen?”
I stopped in front of her desk. “What’s got you so bitter?”
“I’m always bitter.”
“Your scowl is more pronounced than normal. What’s up?”
“I don’t see a difference,” Bert said behind me.
I stifled a laugh as Brenda intensified her scowl at him. “That one”—she jerked her head to the currently empty desk beside her—“can’t keep up. Neither could the one before her. Hunter is working them all to death.”
“You, too?”
She sniffed. “I know the end game. I can hang in there.”
“What end game?”
Her lips pursed. She looked back at her computer, pulling a Hunter. She planned to ignore me now.
I rolled my eyes. They had plans, and they weren’t telling me what they were.
I walked into Hunter’s office, prepared for my favorite view of the morning. I got exactly what I was expecting. The light streaming over Hunter’s broad shoulders before I feasted my eyes on the most gorgeous man I’d ever seen.
Forever, Please (Please #4) Page 7
