by Wood, Lauren
But then again, how was that any of her fault? She couldn’t help that she was desirable. It was unfair to fire her on the spot for something that I had started. I would think more about it, but I had a temporary answer for her.
“No,” I told her and ran my hands through my hair. “You’re not fired.”
“Thank you,” she let out a sigh of relief.
“But what happened,” I commented. “It can never happen again. It was a mistake.”
I hadn’t thought about how my words would affect her before I said them. I saw the hurt flash in her eyes, but she wasn’t surprised. She nodded. “I understand.”
“Good.”
“If you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.”
I nodded and watched as she fixed herself a glass of water and walked out of the kitchen, my eyes glued to her ass the entire time.
Resisting her was going to be the toughest challenge of my life. I’ve had several challenges throughout my life, but nothing was going to compare to this and how could it? Everything about this woman was a turn-on. It wasn’t like I could just ignore her.
6
Quinn
Usually when it came to going to bed, I was knocked out and fast asleep within the first couple of minutes that I laid my head on the pillow. But tonight was different. I’d spent what felt like half of it locking lips with my boss. I sighed as I thought about just how much of a mistake that I’d made. I’d known better than to do something like that.
Yet when his lips had been pressed against mine, the only thought in my head was that I wanted to do more than just kiss him. I wanted to feel his hands run along my body. I wanted to feel his tongue wrap around my nipple and make me beg for more.
I turned onto my side, wondering what had gotten into me. Typically, I never felt such strong sexual urges, but with Ezra, it was different. I wanted for him to completely ravage my body, and the fact that he hadn’t was disappointing. He’d gotten the sense knocked into him and remembered the rule that he’d formerly been so vehement about.
And, all I could do was wonder if I was about to get fired. Of course, I hadn’t been the one to jump Ezra, but I still knew that it took two to tango, or, in our case, make out. Speaking of which, his lips, his tongue, his teeth, it had all felt so amazing. How was it possible that he was so damn good at something that was supposed to be forbidden?
But he hadn’t fired me, thankfully. If he had, who would I have been able to blame apart from myself? I should have pulled away and pushed him off. But wouldn’t that have been lying to myself, denying my own body something that it wanted so bad?
Besides, what would he have done if I rejected him? That would have been a sure way to get fired, I was sure. I doubted that Ezra was the type of man who knew much of anything about rejection, and how could he? He had everything and was everything that women wanted. And if I’d done that, it would have been awkward, until the point that he finally decided it wasn’t worth keeping me around.
We had done so well at keeping our relationship strictly professional, and now all of that was messed up. There were no doubts about it. How was I supposed to look at him and not think about what we had done? Not think about how good he had felt against me? Not want for him to do it again?
He’d worked me up so much, leaving me without an outlet. This had never happened to me before, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do to relieve myself. I sighed, feeling an ache deep inside of me that was unfamiliar.
Without thinking too much about it, I moved my hand underneath the cover and into my panties. My instincts were taking over, and a loud moan left my lips when I grazed my womanhood with my fingers.
I woke up the next morning feeling more refreshed than I had in a long time, and I wondered if it had to do with what I’d done, in the dark, the night before. My teeth worked into my bottom lip as I thought about it. I’d never touched myself before, but it was nice. Had it felt as good as if Ezra would have done it? No, I doubted that it did.
After getting out of bed, I turned the shower on high and jumped in. Nothing woke me up and prepared me better than a hot shower, in the morning. I wrapped a towel around my body and stepped out, the bathroom full of steam.
I changed into a clean pair of bra and panties before slipping into some grey sweatpants and a casual pink crop top. It was Saturday, which meant that it was one of my chill days. I didn’t have work. Ezra didn’t have work, and Paige didn’t have anywhere that she needed to be. It was when we all spent time together.
Not that I should even be thinking about spending time with Ezra. I needed to keep those kinds of thoughts under lock and key, in my mind.
That’s when the smell of bacon hit my nose. My eyebrows furrowed, and my head turned to the clock. 7:06. I was supposed to be the only one awake. Ezra and Paige weren’t supposed to leave their rooms for at least another hour.
Who was cooking? Ezra wasn’t the type of guy to cook when he was spending money for someone else to do it. Was there someone else here, cooking? Hadn’t Ezra told me that I wasn’t fired, that my job was safe?
My heart was racing far quicker than it should have been. I ran my fingers through my hair to try and calm myself down. In all of the time that I’d been working with Ezra, as mean as he was, I’d always known for him to be a man of his word above all else. If he’d said that I wasn’t fired, then I wasn’t fired, right?
But if that was the case, who was downstairs cooking? I took a deep breath before padding back into the bathroom. I grabbed a scrunchie off the counter and pinned my hair up into a ponytail.
“You’re not going to be fired,” I whispered to the mirror. “He said you’re fine, and you’re going to be fine.” I splashed some water in my face.
I needed this job. A good bit of what I made went back to my mother, and without this job, I wouldn’t be able to support her the way that I needed to without completely working my ass off. I’d probably have to drop out of college and vet school just to make sure that she was kept.
Being with Ezra wasn’t enough to make me leave my mother in a bad condition. I’d gladly stay away from him if it meant that she was as happy and comfortable as she could be. It would be hard to stay away from him, but this was my mother, my only blood relative that I still had left.
When I started to smell pancakes, a frown came over my face. There was no other explanation other than Ezra had lied to me and hired another nanny. And this was his way of telling me because he probably thought that it was the easiest way. How lousy. Always doing things when they benefited him and not caring how they affected other people. What a jerk!
I knew that I wasn’t just thinking about him hiring someone else, either. Last night, he’d started everything and then had the nerve to stop it, almost just as quick. Ezra had done what he wanted to do, but when I gave in, he gained a conscience and remembered his rules, not caring how it would affect me or how I felt.
Maybe I’d been wrong about him all along. Perhaps, he was a selfish man that only cared about himself. Despite the fact that I lived with him, I was realizing that I would be stupid to think that I knew him, well. After all, I only spent at max twelve hours with him a week. I didn’t know who this man really was, and it was about time I admitted that.
As I walked downstairs, I was incredibly frustrated, upset, and angry all in one. I was already preparing what I was going to say to Ezra. If I was fired anyways, then it meant that my words couldn’t do me any damage. And I wasn’t going to go out without a fight. I doubted he’d ever been scolded before, but he had a real tongue lashing coming his way if he thought that this was okay.
“Look, whatever, Ezra told you or promised you,” I snapped when I walked into the kitchen only for my words to be cut off when I realized. My lips opened, and I covered my mouth with my hands. I should have gone with the first thought I’d had, initially. If I wasn’t going to get fired before, then there was no question about it now.
There was no other woman, no other nanny. Instead i
t was Ezra, standing at the stove with Paige, as they cooked what looked to be eggs. There were plates on the counter piled with sausage and bacon and pancakes. And everything looked so good and smelled even better. My mouth was watering.
My eyes moved from the plate of food to the two people again, and I noticed Ezra was staring at me with a hard look in his eye. Having lived with him this long, I knew when he was upset. And right now, he was absolutely furious at me. Why? I tried to think back to what I could have done to provoke him.
“What were you saying?” Ezra asked me, and his eyebrows were narrowed while he looked at me. I didn’t think that I had ever seen him so tense, which was hard to believe, considering some of the things that I’d gone through.
“I’m sorry?”
“When you came downstairs,” he reminded me. “What were you saying?”
I swallowed. I had been about to yell at whoever Ezra had hired, and that was obviously something that I couldn’t do now. Obviously, he’d realized where my thoughts had been leading, and he hadn’t liked it. But repeating it would definitely result in me getting fired, a place that I didn’t want to be.
“Nothing,” I answered quickly.
“You sure?” He wanted me to get in trouble.
“Yes.” I wanted to change the subject. “Everything smells really good. Good morning, by the way.”
“Hi, Quinn,” Paige greeted with a huge smile on her face. I was so addicted to her, and her happiness was one of the most infectious things I had ever come across. She was basically bouncing while she was speaking to me. “And good morning!”
“Are you helping your dad make breakfast?” I asked her.
Paige frowned. “No,” she answered quickly. “Daddy’s helping me! I’m doing most of the work!” she exclaimed, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Paige could be quite dramatic when she wanted to be.
“Is that so?” I smiled at her.
She nodded. “Yep!”
“Don’t forget about the eggs, Paige.” Her dad’s words were rough, and I couldn’t help but to think he just wanted to end the conversation that we’d been having. I found myself beginning to get upset with this attitude that he was giving me, but I knew that there wasn’t anything that I could say about it.
“I don’t mind cooking breakfast.” I leaned against the counter. “Why are you guys cooking?” My question was directed at Ezra, but I had a feeling it was going to be answered by Paige, instead.
“We wanted to make you breakfast, in bed.”
“Paige wanted to make you breakfast in bed,” Ezra corrected his daughter’s words.
I wanted to frown, but the fact that just Paige had wanted to do this was still enough to warm my heart. She was so sweet, which was something I should have been used to with her, yet I still wasn’t. Whenever I finally had a child, I wanted for them to be exactly like this little girl. But what were the chances of that happening?
“Would you like any help?” I walked over to where they were making the food, but Paige spun around with her little eyes narrowed at me. She pointed the spoon she held at me.
“You can’t help!”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s for you.”
“Just sit down and wait for the food to be finished,” Ezra snapped at me.
That time I couldn’t stop my eyebrows from furrowing. He was making it exceptionally hard to ignore how furious he was at me, and the worst part was that I didn’t know why he was upset. I couldn’t think of any reason why he’d be so mad at me apart from what we had done, together, last night. But he hadn’t even been that mad at me the night before. It was unreasonable that he would now.
And, quite frankly, I didn’t deserve it. What had happened last night hadn’t just been on me, and him picking on me was the farthest thing from okay. It was annoying, and I was determined not to be put down because he felt bad about what had happened. He had started it, and he was responsible. After all, wasn’t he the employer and I the employee? How was any of this my fault?
Ezra took out the plates and put food on them before setting them around the table. It was unnaturally quiet as we all sat down to eat. Even Paige noticed the tension in the room and remained quiet which was so unlike her. In the mornings, typically, she was nothing but a ball of excitement when she started eating breakfast.
Now, there was nothing because he had created this uncomfortable atmosphere. And there was nothing that I wanted more than to talk about it, but how could I do that when his daughter was still in the room? We both never wanted any problems to be known by her.
“What are your plans for the day?” Ezra broke the silence. Before I could answer, my phone went off, signaling that I’d gotten a text message. Cell phones weren’t allowed at the table, but I checked it, anyway. It was a message from Morgan, asking if I could take her shift at the vet.
I put my phone away. “It looks like I might have to go in to work today.” Ezra shot me a pointed look, probably because this wasn’t on the schedule that I’d given him at the beginning of the week. One thing that Ezra didn’t like was when something didn’t go according to schedule.
I didn’t see why it was a problem. He didn’t have work, and he would be with Paige all day anyways. So, I didn’t see what the problem was. Who knew? He was probably just trying to be difficult again like he’d been all throughout the morning.
“You didn’t tell me?” he questioned.
“Just happened.”
Why was he asking about my personal life anyways? Ezra had made it obvious several times in the future he wasn’t invested in what I was doing unless it was relative to work. So, why was this even a question.
He swallowed, staring at me, with a fork in his hand. “Do you want a ride?”
I was surprised by his question. Was he seriously asking me that? When had he ever done anything that was relative to my vet job? But it might give us a chance to speak without worrying about the little ears that were around.
Frankly, I thought he owed me an apology for the way that he’d insisted on speaking to me, at breakfast, and having him drive me to work was the perfect time for him to seize the opportunity. I’d never heard Ezra apologize before, but there was a first for everything, right?
7
Ezra
There was an obvious tension between Quinn and me, although I had nobody but myself to blame for that. If I was being completely honest, I was nervous, and that nervousness was making me do things that I shouldn’t. Not just that, but I was furious as well at this girl for something that she couldn’t control. I was mad because I wasn’t able to control myself, which wasn’t her fault.
If anyone were to blame, it was her parents for bringing such a beautiful woman into this world. Last night, I’d been able to stop us, but what about next time? How much self-control would I be able to muster then, especially considering that I’d only stopped because I thought I heard Paige. There was no way that I was going to be able to stop longing for this woman. It didn’t matter what I did.
So, being the man that I was, I’d managed to conjure up a plan of sorts, and it was brewing easily, in my mind. If Quinn and I didn’t get this attraction for each other sorted out, then it would always affect us, which meant that it would affect her work. And I wasn’t going to allow her to give me anything other than her best.
The last time a woman on the job had become infatuated with me was terrible. I sighed, as I thought about it, a shiver running down my spine. She’d been so obsessed, and it was the prime example of unprofessionalism that I didn’t go for. She hadn’t been able to get anything done with all of the time that she spent gawking at me. That was why, in the end, I had to let her go.
All night, I hadn’t been able to go to sleep, although that was hardly new for me. I could be a bit of an insomniac at times, but it wasn’t that I wasn’t able to go to sleep. It was as if a part of me hadn’t wanted to because I wanted to picture Quinn and see her, all flustered and horny, from what we’d done.
> At some point, I’d even debated going to her part of the house, knocking on the door, and continuing what we had started, but I’d known better than to do that. It would look bad on me, and for someone like me, image was everything.
So I’d managed to stay put, but the same wouldn’t be said for tonight. I looked at myself in the mirror while I slid on a plain white t-shirt in preparation for dropping Quinn off to work. I’d never done this before, and I was surprised that she accepted without much convincing. But there was a reason for all of this.
I never did things I didn’t premeditate for a long time, but thinking about this longer wouldn’t change my mind. I just had to be sure that acting like an ass this morning wouldn’t make her think of saying ‘no.’ Because after all, I wanted just one night with her, one wild night, and then, maybe, I could back off.
Or, at least, I hoped that I could back off.
The doorbell sounded throughout the entire house, and I walked downstairs to answer it, knowing that Quinn was getting ready to go to the veterinary clinic. My face was scrunched up into a frown, as I tried to think about who was supposed to be coming over. Nobody had called me, and my family, and what I could call my friends, knew better than to just come over without letting me know ahead of time.
And nine times out of ten, I denied them access for whatever excuse I managed to think of. I made it obvious that my free time was just that, time for me to myself to enjoy doing what I wanted to do, not to have everyone bombard me with their requests. And my mother happened to be the worst when it came to that.
I opened the door and sighed when I saw who was behind it. Klaus was staring at me, with a smirk on his lips.
“Hello, brother.” He knew most, out of anyone else, how much his unexpected visit would bother me. He raised an eyebrow at me when I didn’t move away from the door. “Aren’t you going to invite me in?”
