by J. H. Croix
Zane, because he was awesome, sexy, and kissed like a dream, didn’t hesitate. He fit his mouth over mine and swept his tongue inside. My knees went weak again, and I was clutching his shoulders for balance when he broke free with a startled laugh.
“Next Friday,” he said before stepping back.
I was frozen where I was, and he slid a hand in his pocket. “I’m waiting until you go in,” he added.
My belly did a little flip, but I reached for the door handle and walked inside. The door clicked shut behind me, and I leaned against it, listening to the sound of his footsteps crossing my porch and descending the stairs.
My legs were still feeling wobbly as I pushed away from the door. My purse slid off my shoulder, falling to the floor with a soft thud. I draped my jacket over the back of the couch and kicked my shoes off as I made my way into the bathroom. Leaning my hands on the counter, I stared at myself in the mirror. My lips were puffy, my cheeks flushed, and my eyes wide.
Zane had done what I thought was impossible. He made me lose myself with abandon. With a mental shake, I peeled off my clothes and climbed into the shower. Just thinking about how I had an orgasm in the middle of a restaurant got me hot and bothered all over again.
Chapter 10
Eva
“Friday?” Sarah asked, her eyes wide.
“Yes, Friday. What’s wrong with that?”
“Is that the only day of the week he goes out?”
“How am I supposed to know?” I lifted my hands in exasperation. “I’ve only had one dinner date with him.”
“I know, and I’m still waiting for you to fill me in. How did it go?”
Sitting in one of the conference rooms at the office, we were going over the resumes and our notes from the round of interviews we had finished this morning. One thing I’d learned while running my own company was not to drag out the hiring process. Most people were looking for work because they needed a job, so if you delayed too long, someone else would snap them up. I never rushed, but once we got to the stage of interviews, I tried to make prompt decisions.
Sarah leaned back in her chair, spinning a pencil between her fingers as she eyed me. My cheeks got hot.
“Well, then,” she said with a satisfied smile. “I’d say it went quite well. I don’t expect you to give me all the details because you’re too private for that. Please tell me he was better in bed than your college boyfriend.”
My face had to be three shades of red by this point. “It wasn’t like that,” I insisted. “We didn’t even spend the night together.” Perhaps I left out the fact he gave me an earth-shattering orgasm in a café, but I wasn’t ready to share that.
Sarah laughed. “Well, whatever happened, it’s making you all hot and bothered. I am on team Zane. I’ve never even heard anything bad about the guy.”
“He has his grandmother’s cat. His cat is named George too,” I offered.
“Clearly, you’re meant to be then. You both have cats named George.”
I giggled and couldn’t even believe I was giggling about anything. Zane had me feeling like a foolish girl.
There was a sharp knock, and our receptionist, Ellen, poked her head around the door. “You have a delivery.”
“Me?” I pointed at my chest, honestly confused because I wasn’t expecting anything.
Ellen smiled. “Yes, you.”
Sarah was hot on my heels as I walked down the hallway. A massive bouquet of wildflowers was sitting on the counter surrounding Ellen’s desk.
“This is for me?” I gestured to the flowers as Sarah and Ellen appeared at the end of the hallway behind me.
“Yes,” Ellen said.
Sarah squealed. “Open the card,” she demanded, pointing at it.
With my heart pounding and butterflies spinning in my belly, I reached for the card tucked in the flowers.
This made me think of you.
Zane
“Please let me see,” Sarah said, holding her hands behind her back. I knew she was resisting the urge to snatch the card from me, so I handed it over.
Ellen stepped to her side, and they read the single sentence together.
Ellen looked up first. “Oh, my.”
“Oh, my what?”
“He likes you,” Sarah declared as she handed the card back to me.
“How do you know?”
“Zane Maddox is not exactly a romantic guy. He’s all business and mostly unapproachable. Not only did he take you out to dinner, not only is he taking it slow with you, but he found the exact kind of flowers you would love. You love wildflowers. Remember in our dorm room? You had a flower box in the window every spring filled with wildflowers. You have flowers at your house too.”
“You better find a way to thank him,” Ellen said solemnly.
My panic must’ve shown on my face because Ellen reached over and lightly squeezed my shoulder. “Eva, it’ll be fine. Obviously, he likes you just the way you are.”
As we walked back down the hallway, Sarah nudged me with her elbow. “Do something awesome.”
“What?” I really didn’t know what to do.
“Think of something that might surprise him and do it. You’re creative. You’ll think of it.”
Chapter 11
Zane
A day after I sent the bouquet of wildflowers to Eva, there was a knock on my office door. “Come in,” I called, my eyes on the spreadsheet on my screen.
Eva had sent me a thank-you text yesterday evening. I was deeply regretting my choice to wait a full week before I saw her again because I craved to see her sooner.
Brian walked into my office. “Here.” Crossing over, he set a small box wrapped in silver paper on my desk. It had a burgundy note taped on top.
He stood on the other side of my desk, a slight glint in his gaze as he looked at me. “Are you going to open it?” he finally asked.
“Are you going to insist on watching?” I countered.
“You bet.”
I shifted my shoulders, rolling my neck from side to side to ease the tension starting to bundle there. It wasn’t bad tension. It was anticipatory tension. I sensed this little delivery was from Eva, and my uncommon excitement about it was unsettling.
Reaching for it, I flipped open a note on top. To Zane was all it said.
I quickly unwrapped the small box. Lifting the lid, I found two things. First, a set of silver cuff links. When I turned them to the side, I smiled at the bold Z carved into the surface. The other was a small piece of card stock. Lifting it, I smiled as I read it. It was a series of numbers and letters with a link.
“What the hell is that?” Brian asked.
“It’s a beta code.”
Brian let out a little sigh. “This is why Eva is going to be perfect for you. Only a woman like her would get that you’re probably going to masturbate over getting this beta code for one of her games in development.”
I didn’t care what he thought or that he might’ve been right.
“Can I see the cuff links?” Brian asked. I handed them over, and he held them in his palm as he inspected them. “Very nice. They suit you.”
They were very nice. But the beta code? I loved it.
After Brian departed, I opened up my email, pulling out the private address I’d created solely to communicate with Eva.
Zane: How lucky am I to get this beta code? By the way, the cuff links are perfect.
Friday is only three days away.
Eva’s reply came only minutes later. I loved that she wasn’t coy and didn’t try to drag things out.
Eva: You’re the only person who has that beta code. Let me know what you think.
Now, it’s only 2 days, 23 hours, and 48 many minutes until Friday.
By the time Friday rolled around, I was doubting my ability to keep my cool when I finally saw Eva. For starters, we had a back and forth text and email exchange about her game. I loved her brain. I wanted to climb inside and take a walk around. She was brilliant and savvy and so
fucking creative.
As much as I wanted to steal her back, I knew running her own company was what gave her this freedom. I would happily partner with her on any projects she wanted.
When Danny pulled to the curb in front of her house, he glanced over his shoulder at me. He eyed me speculatively for a moment until I arched a brow in question. “I like Eva,” he offered.
“I do too. Care to share why you felt the need to let me know that?”
Danny was quiet, and his gaze considering. After a beat, he lifted his shoulder in a shrug, almost as if thinking to himself. “She deserves a good man. I know you’re a good man, but sometimes you forget that.”
“Are you worried I’m going to hurt Eva?” I kept my tone light, but my heart thumped unsteadily in my chest.
Few people knew me as well as Danny did. He’d known me since I was a boy. My parents weren’t wealthy, but he’d done yard work for them for years after my father messed up his shoulder. Now, I paid someone else to do yard work because Danny was too old. He wanted to work, so I had a driver solely because I wanted to give him employment.
Danny shook his head. “Oh, no. I trust Eva can take care of herself. But I think you really like her, and if you don’t give yourself a chance for something good, you would hurt her and yourself.”
I didn’t even know what to say. After another silence, Danny said, “Now, go get that pretty girl and take her to a nice dinner.”
As I climbed out of the car, my senses felt fully attuned. I heard a soft breeze rustling the leaves in the trees. My eyes landed on the flower boxes in the windows of Eva’s small house. I hadn’t even consciously noticed them the last time I was here, but then perhaps my subconscious did. In the silvery evening light was an explosion of wild, messy flowers just like the bouquet I’d sent her.
When I stood in front of her door, I realized for the first time since I’d gotten in the car tonight that I was nervous. Because I liked Eva. I really liked her. Maybe it all started because I thought of my physical attraction to her, and she was hot, but now she was more.
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until the doorknob turned, and she opened the door. Her hair was down in a glossy swirl around her shoulders. I thought I spied a streak of pink mingling with the burgundy in her locks.
Her teeth dented her bottom lip as a smile unfurled across her face. “Come in.” Opening the door wider, she gestured me inside. “George will want to say hello.”
“He will?” I replied with a chuckle. As if to prove her point, George approached, purring up a storm as he circled my calves.
The little skirts Eva wore were going to kill me. She had great legs, long and lithe. Once again, when she leaned over to pick up her purse, I was thinking I could just cross the room and pull that skirt up.
As if he was aware of the direction my thoughts took, George purred again, bumping his head against the front of my shin. “Hey, George,” I said as I leaned down to scratch under his chin.
As I straightened, my eyes landed on the desk in the corner. Her home was warm and inviting. With glossy hardwood floors and throw rugs here and there, she had a big comfortable-looking sectional and a television mounted above the fireplace. In the corner, she had two desks situated with several computer monitors on top, all of them on at the moment.
Before I realized it, I was crossing over to see what she was working on. I scanned, seeing the beta game I’d been playing on one of the screens. “Are you making more changes?”
“Until a game is out the door, I’m always making changes.”
Eva came to stand beside me where I had my hand leaning on her desk. One computer screen had the code she was working on with another showing the graphics. “I’m struggling with setting the difficulty,” she explained. “I tend to overthink that.”
We were supposed to go to dinner, but I forgot.
It was a full two hours before I even noticed the time. That was with a clock in front of me the entire time on the computer monitors. We were sitting at her desk, alternating between screens as we toyed with adjusting various settings in the game. Eva showed me some changes she had already implemented based on my feedback about the beta version she had sent over.
We were completely engrossed in work, although I didn’t even think of it as work. I loved analyzing mechanisms in technology. I also loved listening to Eva.
She was brilliant, thoughtful, creative, and so thorough. She considered every angle of every change she made. It was a major turn-on.
“Did you still want to go to dinner?” I belatedly asked.
I occupied a low stool Eva had pulled over while she sat on her desk chair. Her hands froze on the keyboard, and she spun to face me as they dropped away. Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink, and I wanted to kiss her.
I’d had enough foresight to text Danny and let him know we would be leaving later because I was doing some work with Eva. I’d told him to go home for the night because I didn’t want him waiting around indefinitely. Good thing I had because I’d lost all sense of time.
“I forgot about dinner,” Eva said, catching her bottom lip in her teeth and worrying it a little.
“We missed our reservation.”
Her eyes widened. She whipped her head to the side, glancing at the computer screen. When her eyes met mine again, she cast me a sheepish smile. “It’s been two hours. I’m really sorry. I can get kind of absorbed.”
“Same here. You weren’t the only one who lost track of time.”
As we stared at each other, the air around us begin to feel heavy with a subtle hum of electricity. The hairs on the back of my neck rose in awareness. I had meant for tonight to actually be a seduction. It was supposed to be planned.
Yet here I was, apparently so enthralled with the way Eva’s brain worked that I forgot everything else. I felt the swell of my cock when I saw her slide her palms over her thighs, almost nervously. Leaning forward, I reached for her hands.
“Come here,” I murmured.
Eva stood from her chair, and she was immediately right in front of me, standing between my knees. With me seated, our faces were almost level. Her eyes searched my face, and I wanted to kiss her. So very badly.
“Zane…” she began, the frayed sound of my name in her voice like metal striking pavement and sending sparks flying high into the air.
I didn’t know who leaned closer first, but inside of a millisecond, we were diving into a hot, wet kiss. My hand was sliding down her back to cup her sweet ass while the other tangled in her hair as I angled my head to the side and dove into the warm sweetness of her mouth.
She let out a little whimper when I drew her even closer between my knees, and the thick length of my arousal brushed at the apex of her thighs. That little sound was like lightning sizzling through my body.
Our kiss was carnal, a wild tangle of lips and tongues. I craved her. It was as if I were in a desert and parched of thirst. She was water, and I couldn’t get enough of her fast enough. I wanted her over me, under me, and everywhere.
I didn’t even realize I was tugging at her blouse until I heard a button strike the hardwood floor. I finally lifted my head from where I’d been kissing her neck. She tasted so good, and I loved the little sounds she made at the back of her throat.
Dragging my eyes open took an effort. I sucked in a breath of air. Her gaze was half-lidded, and her lips were swollen from our kiss. Her blouse hung open, and I could see her nipples, pebbled and pressing against the thin cotton of her camisole.
I scrambled for purchase in my body, clinging to the frayed threads of my control as I stared at her. “Do you still want to go to dinner?” I asked, quite reluctantly. Because if she said yes, I would find a place to take her and save this for later, but I wanted her, and I wanted her now.
She was quiet for a moment, and I could hear the rush of blood in my ears with every heartbeat. She had a dazed look in her eyes, and I was relieved I wasn’t the only one half out of my mind with need.
&
nbsp; “I want you more than I want dinner.”
Her words had my head dropping and my forehead falling to the sweet curve of her neck. Of course, touching Eva sent heat racing through me. I was nibbling on that sweet skin and tracing my tongue along her collarbone when something bumped into my calves.
Eva giggled. “George would like our attention.”
Lifting my head, I glanced down at George. He was rubbing against my legs and purring. Before I could ask where her bedroom was, Eva caught one of my hands in hers and led me into the room. I dimly took in the space. She had a tall four-poster bed with a fluffy quilt on it and tons of pillows. Perfect.
In another second, we were kissing, and I found it gratifying when she tugged as frantically at my clothes as I did at hers. I was so hard, I was practically in pain, but I didn’t want to race through this. I didn’t want to miss a single second of making her fly apart in my arms.
I was teasing my thumb back and forth over one of her tight nipples when I got her down to her bra and panties. I could feel her nails scoring my back as she arched into me. My knees almost gave out when she reached between us and boldly stroked her hand over my cock.
Dragging my eyes open, I drew back from her sinfully sexy mouth. I lightly pinched her nipple, and satisfaction sizzled through me when she let out a ragged moan. I needed more. Now. Turning, I held her close as I took the few steps until we reached the foot of her bed.
“Sit,” I murmured.
Eva’s eyes lifted, her gaze sultry. “Okay.” Her breathy whisper sent electricity jolting through me.
I eased her hips on the bed. All I had left on were my jeans, which she’d already unbuttoned.
“You’re wearing too many clothes,” she whispered, reaching toward me.
