Alex Reid (Rich & Single #1)

by Lexy Timms

  Chapter 4

  Alex woke to sunlight falling across his face and a warm body wrapped up in his arms. For a moment, he simply lay there, enjoying the quiet of the morning. There was work to do, but it could be done later. He had a few hours to just enjoy himself. Then he remembered that today was Saturday, and Mark was getting married. The pleasant, relaxed warmth ebbed away.

  He wondered what Mark had told his new bride about the brother who wouldn’t be attending the wedding. Was he talking about how selfish Alex was? How he never came to family functions? That he’d told him no and then hung up on him? Undoubtedly he’d mentioned the wedding gift they’d be getting. It was likely the only positive thing he’d have to say. His father would be furious. He’d just be chalking it up as another disappointment from his eldest son. Alex sighed and pushed the thoughts away, moving to rise from the bed. Might as well get a head start if he couldn’t enjoy lazing around. Friggin’ family.

  Laura stirred in his arms when he moved. Her eyelids fluttered open.

  “Morning,” Alex said and forced a smile. “Sorry to wake you. Just thought I’d get up and get some coffee going.”

  “Coffee?” She scrunched her eyebrows together and looked up at him like he was speaking some kind of foreign language. “You’re getting out of bed?”

  “I’ve got work to get going on.”

  Her eyes moved to the light slanting in through the window and she sat up, the blankets falling down around her waist, exposing her naked torso. “Already? I guess that’s how you make the big bucks, huh?”

  “I have to start eventually. Might as well be now.” He admired her breasts. They weren’t small but a good size, about a handful. He could feel himself reacting as he imagined the reaction he would get from putting his mouth around the dark nipple and sucking.

  “And I thought I was a workaholic.” She smiled. “You know, if you’re just starting for lack of something else to do, I’m sure we can work out a better option.” Her voice had dropped a little lower, the words deliberately slow.

  “What kind of other option were you thinking?” he asked, like he didn’t know exactly what she was thinking about with eyes like that.

  She grinned at him. “Well, something like this, actually.” Her hand pulled the blankets back, inviting the comparatively cool air of the bedroom into the space where they had been.

  Alex made a noise of protest, but she ignored it. Her attention was on his cock, still partially soft but quickly becoming interested in the proceedings as she rolled over and settled herself between his thighs. Alex’s stomach clenched in pleasant anticipation.

  When she ran her tongue up the length of him, he let his head drop back against the pillow, his eyelids falling half closed. One of his hands tangled in the sheets, the other stroked through her hair while she licked again.

  “Better?” she paused to ask.

  “Better if you would get to work,” Alex grunted, his voice coming out rough and low in his throat.

  She laughed. “Talk to me like that and maybe you won’t get anything at all, Mr. Reid.”

  He shut up.

  Seemingly satisfied, Laura leaned in close again, her breath washing warm over his skin. Alex shuddered. She licked him again, long and slow, and laughed at the groan that caught behind his teeth. The vibration of it shocked sparks through him. His hand tightened in her hair.

  Taking that as a cue, she opened her mouth and slid down, warm and wet. Alex’s spine arched. Another inch, and then two. She pulled back until just the head was in her mouth, teasing with her tongue, and he began to be sure that it was payback for the way he’d teased her the night before.

  “Damn, woman. Come on.”

  Again she laughed, but she slid all the way down when she took him in again, and the slow, teasing stimulation picked up pace. It wasn’t going to take him long like this. With her mouth around him, the only pleasure he had to think about was his own, and he chased it selfishly, letting himself just enjoy her talented tongue.

  Up and down. Her hair fell across his thighs, soft and cool against his heated skin, and slid tickling over them. On the next slide down, she took him even deeper. The knuckles of the hand buried in the blankets ached with the strength of his grip. Again, he moaned.

  He wanted to drag it out, to enjoy it for as long as he could, but he wasn’t going to last. She was taking him nearly to the hilt, swallowing around him. Noises of obvious enjoyment vibrated through his core.

  She was stretching him to the breaking point.

  “Going to come,” he warned finally, gasping the words.

  Laura didn’t pull away, and orgasm washed through him, wringing him out.

  The world came back into focus a moment later. Laura had crawled back up to lay beside him, looking smug and satisfied with herself. She grinned when she saw him watching her. One shoulder was moving, and Alex’s eyes followed it down to her fingers, working between her thighs. Part of him wanted to watch her, the other wanted to be the boss of what was going on and be in control. When her finger slid inside her slit, he didn’t need much more prompting than that. With a growl, he pulled it away, pressing her onto her back, and settled down between her legs to return the favor.

  She tasted like woman, and her husky voice encouraged him as he lapped her up.

  When Laura came, screaming his name, Alex sat up and licked his lips, watching her gaze follow the motion of his tongue.

  “I’ll admit,” he said. “You were right about this being better than coffee.”

  Laura stretched, arms reaching above her head and spine arching, then relaxed against the sheets. “I usually am,” she said. “Right. I mean.” Her lips curved upward. “But actually, I could do with some coffee now.”

  “Is that a request?”

  She laughed, and sat up. “No. I’ll go down with you. If you have something I can wear? I’m not quite sure where my clothes ended up.”

  Her clothes were sitting outside his door, washed and neatly folded. Alex retrieved them and offered them to her.

  “Efficient staff,” she said as she pulled her bra on and fastened it.

  “I only accept the best.”

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.” She accompanied the words with a wink in his direction.

  Alex reeled her in for a kiss that might have turned into something more if he hadn’t remembered that he actually did have work to get done. Reluctantly he pulled back, and they headed downstairs for coffee.

  Laura leaned against the counter as it brewed, combing her fingers through her tousled hair. Alex busied himself taking cups from the cupboard. He turned when she made a disgruntled sound.

  “What is it?”

  She was looking down at her phone, which she’d pulled from the purse she left sitting on the counter the night before. “It’s a work emergency, apparently. One of the cases we’re working just had some new evidence come up, and of course they need to prepare a new defense in light of it. I’m going to have to take the coffee and run if I want to have time to change out of last night’s clothes before I head in to the office. While I’m sure they could handle it without me, it wouldn’t do much for my chances of making partner in a law firm one day to not show up to my own case. No matter how good the sex is.”

  Alex laughed, lifting one shoulder in a shrug and letting it fall again. “I would imagine not. And, to be honest, much as I would have liked to stay in bed all day, I’ve got some work of my own to do. Business doesn’t wait for the weekend to end, and CEOs who don’t show up to their jobs go over about as well as lawyers who don’t show up for their own cases.”

  “Don’t I know it.” When he handed her a cup she took it, drinking a little too quickly and wincing at the heat.

  He took a more careful sip of his own.

  “Milk?” She sucked in a quick breath.

  He gestured to the fridge and she opened it, taking out the jug and pouring a generous splash into her coffee. It seemed to handle the heat problem, because she fini
shed off the rest of the cup in just a few minutes.

  “Well,” she said, tucking her phone back into her purse and buckling her sandals as he finished his own coffee. “Thank you. For the coffee.” She grinned. “And the great sex.”

  “All in a day’s work.” He pulled on his own shoes. “I’ll drop you at your car on the way to the office?”

  “If it’s not too much of an inconvenience.”

  “It’s that or a taxi. I can call one if you prefer.”

  “I had sex with you three times and a hell of a lot of oral. I don’t think riding in your car is going to do me any damage.”

  Alex laughed, and they headed out to the car together. The drive back to the restaurant they’d left the night before was quiet, Laura tapping out emails or texts on her phone and occasionally sighing to herself. Alex let her work. He understood what she had to do and appreciated her hard work ethic. He appreciated a hell of a lot of her.

  When he pulled into the parking lot, she set the phone down long enough to turn and smile at him. “Thank you again.”

  He waved away the gratitude. “Not a problem. And I think the thanks for last night goes to you. You’re the one who came and sat at my table.”

  Her smile widened a little. “I did, didn’t I?” She opened the car door. “Have a good day, Mr. Reid. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

  “If you’re lucky.”

  She laughed, and then the door closed behind her and she was gone. Alex sat for a moment in the car, watching the sway of her hips until she turned and gave him a wave, and then he pulled out into the street and headed to work.

  Chapter 5

  Maybe it was the sex, or maybe it was just that it was the weekend and the workload was a little lighter, but Alex found getting through the day easier than most of them had been lately. Or, easier to get through aside from the way his thoughts kept going back to that morning and the night before, which made it difficult to concentrate. There were a lot of images to be distracted by. All of them more than tempting. Alex forced himself not to let his attention wander back to them.

  He had Laura’s number in his phone, and he couldn’t deny that the idea of calling her was tempting. But she had work, and so did he, so he left it alone and tried to focus on next week’s investment schedule.

  When the clock hit six, he stood and gathered up his things. The rest of the work could be done from home. Most of the other employees had already left for the day, or didn’t come in at all on the weekend. He didn’t ask them to work weekends most of the time. It kept them happier. Plus, it wasn’t really necessary for everyone to spend the weekend in the office. Those who wanted to climb the ladder didn’t argue or complain. He took that into account and screened a lot of the new employees based on being single, driven, and willing to commit. Success didn’t come to those who wait

  On the way home, he reminded himself that he was supposed to start calling around about renovations for the downstairs room that was going to become the gym. He could, and did, use the gym at work, but his preference was for privacy, and having a gym at the house would mean far more convenience, and a place that he could go to be alone. Monday, he promised himself, he would start making the calls.

  In the meantime, he had more paperwork to go through, and still had to send the gift for Mark’s wedding. He sighed as he considered the options. It was unlikely there was anything his brother and the new wife were desperately in need of. Their family wasn’t incredibly wealthy, but they had enough money to be comfortable, and Alex had been generous enough with his other gifts over the years.

  Some kind of luxury good, then. Or maybe not a good at all. He could pay for some kind of vacation. A cruise. A stay in a resort. They undoubtedly already had honeymoon plans, but some extra time away probably wouldn’t hurt in his brother’s eyes. Alex was aware that not everyone shared his views on vacation and the productivity incited by the lack thereof. While he would have liked to have the gift sent already, he hadn’t exactly been given a lot of notice, so as much as Alex himself disliked being late to anything, Mark would just have to deal with it being less than punctual.

  He turned onto his own street, and wondered what he might find in the fridge for dinner. His stomach reminded him rather loudly that he hadn’t eaten anything but a sandwich, and that had been hours ago. He moved a little quicker through the door into the house.

  MacBane was in the kitchen. Alex stopped cold just inside, then caught himself and took another step. It was very rare that he actually saw his chef. Or any other member of the staff for that matter. Usually he had the house—at least to all appearances—to himself.

  “Evenin’, Mr. Reid.” the chef said, looking up from the shepherd’s pie he was just pulling out of the oven.

  “Evening, MacBane.” The smell of the food was enough to have his stomach growling again.

  MacBane looked amused by the sudden loud growl. “Yer gonna find yerself in trouble, you keep forgettin’ to eat.” His Scottish accent seemed to give the effect that he was singing or saying a poem.

  “I’m aware,” Alex answered.

  MacBane shook his head, but he didn’t attempt to press the issue, just dished up a huge serving of food onto a plate and set it in front of Alex at the island. “An’ you’ll find yer counter will be safe to eat on agin,” he said as Alex picked up his fork. “I had it disinfected.”

  Alex couldn’t quite stop the laugh that escaped him. “I’m sorry, MacBane. Truly. It won’t happen again.”

  The older man squinted at him, but seemed to accept the promise. “I guess if me wife wanted to do that, I would’na argue either.” He set the dish three-quarters full of shepherd’s pie on the counter. “There’s more, if ya want it, Mr. Reid. I’ll just be goin’ home now.”

  “Of course. Have a good night, MacBane.”

  He nodded, and disappeared out the door. Alex started in on his food, wolfing it down and then serving himself a second helping. As he ate, he wondered if Laura might be as interested in a repeat performance as he was. He took his phone out of his pocket and ran his fingers thoughtfully along the edges of it. It was probably too soon to call. He didn’t want to make her think he was desperate, after all. He wasn’t.

  After he finished eating, he went upstairs to shower and then settled down with the paperwork he hadn’t finished from the afternoon. It was as tedious as it had been two hours before, but he didn’t let his mind wander. It was one of the reasons for his success; when he started something, he finished it. And he finished it promptly. Stalling never served anyone.

  The paperwork was finished, or as close to finished as it was going to get for the day, a few hours later. Alex glanced at his phone, but it was already getting late. He plugged it in to charge and got ready for bed.

  Without another body next to his own, the bed seemed bigger than it had on the previous night. Alex turned restlessly for a while, glancing over to watch the numbers on the clock crawl toward midnight. He got up and had a drink of water. Back in bed, he punched his pillow into a more comfortable form, and closed his eyes.

  Naked images of hot women filled his head.

  Finally, he slept.

  * *

  Sunday passed much like Saturday had. Alex filled out more paperwork, went over more records. He packed up around six again and headed home to work from his kitchen over leftover shepherd’s pie. The stress relief of his night with Laura didn’t seem to have extended for another day; it wasn’t as easy as it had been the afternoon before to convince himself that he didn’t hate the forms he had to fill out in triplicate. A new investors’ group was interested in working with him. Exciting as it was to make more money, the tediousness of the work didn’t keep his interest spiked. Days weren’t supposed to be monotonous for the up and coming young CEO of a promising investment company, but lately his had been. Laura had shaken them up.

  On his way home, he dialed her number.

  “Hello,” her smooth voice answered on the third ring.

&n
bsp; “Laura. It’s Alex.” He didn’t bother reminding her where she’d met him. If she couldn’t remember, there probably wasn’t much point in talking to her at all.

  “Alex,” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “What can I do for you?”

  “Well, I was thinking I have this empty Sunday evening stretching out in front of me and thought you might have a similar problem.”

  On the other end of the line, she laughed. “Don’t I wish. Unfortunately, my Sunday evening is completely booked.”

  “What about next?”

  “That will depend on how much Dad manages to find for us all to do between now and then. But I’m not sure I’d count on it.”

  She was, Alex realized with a shock, letting him down easy. She wasn’t interested in a repeat performance. That had… It had really never happened before.

  “If you’re not interested, Laura, just say so. You’re not going to hurt my feelings. Though, if you want to share a reason I wouldn’t mind knowing why. It’s not as though the sex was bad.”

  He heard her sigh. “No,” she said. “The sex wasn’t bad. It was really far from bad. In fact, the whole night was wonderful. But I’ve been really thinking about it over the last couple of days, and I’ve decided that maybe it’s best to break it off before it starts. I’m not looking for commitment right now. I’m focused on my career. And…” for a moment there was silence, “to be honest with you, Alex, I’m a little afraid that if I kept seeing you I would become far too invested in the relationship.”

  Alex almost laughed, but she sounded completely sincere and he was sure it would be rude. “Well, I have to say that’s probably the most flattering reason I’ve ever heard for refusing a second date.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t let it go to your head.”

  “I’ll do my best to stay humble.”

  “Goodbye, Alex. Who knows? Maybe I’ll change my mind sometime.”

  “Goodbye, Laura.” He hung up the phone.