Then There Was You: A Single Parent Collection

by Gianna Gabriela

  I stood still for a moment while I thought about what I wanted.

  Not what my family needed. For once, what did I want?

  My libido was at war with my logic.

  Pushing back my hips and arse, I ground back against him, feeling his hardness against my butt.

  He turned me around, moving us and pushing me up against the back wall. Leaning down, he brushed his lips against mine. Once. Twice, and then hardened the kiss. My mouth opened to allow his tongue to enter.

  And then I drew back. Because he had done this before with assistants. How many had he pushed against this very wall?

  Had he fucked them on the desks?

  I wouldn’t be like the others.

  He groaned as he moved back. “I’m sorry. I thought you wanted it too. Let’s just forget it happened, okay? I don’t want to lose you.”

  I straightened my shirt. “I don’t want to forget it, Jude. But I won’t be another assistant you fuck. You want something to happen between us then you date me properly. I want to be wined and dined. Romanced. I’m not willing to put my career on the line for a quick fuck on a desk. I won’t go where assistants went before.”

  Jude smiled and I saw the tension leave his body. “I can date you?”

  “Yeah. We’ll take it slow.”

  “So can I pick you up tonight? I know a gorgeous little Italian off the beaten track.”

  “That sounds nice. Do they know how to separate pasta there so it’s not in thick lumps?”

  He put a hand over his face, peeking through his fingers. “I didn’t stir it enough because I was too distracted by the gorgeous woman in my kitchen.”

  “Flatterer. Anyway, you can’t be getting distracted at work. Not when you’ve just been gaining your work mojo back, so let’s agree to keep our work life as exactly that, deal? Keep the boundaries of personal and professional well apart.”

  “I’ll agree to that in a few minutes,” he said, and he kissed me again.

  I still had an ongoing argument between my inner voice shouting ‘this is a mistake, a risk,’ and my body that was going, ‘he is such a fucking hottie, let’s jump his bones’. It had been a while.

  Finally ready, I came downstairs dressed in a black sleeveless dress that stretched to my knees and had a V-neck just the right side of respectable. I wore my heels that tied with ribbons up my ankles, and then accessorised with a bag and clutch that were plain black with red embroidered roses. I’d gone for a smoky eye but left off my lipstick in case kissing happened. God, I hoped kissing happened.

  I needn’t have worried. As I climbed into the passenger seat of Jude’s Mercedes, he took one look at me and groaned.

  “Fuck, Pippa. Can we skip the meal and order in after I take you to bed? I’m only hungry for one thing and that’s you.”

  And my body won out over my brain as I replied.

  “Take me to yours.”

  Ann had Addy and so as we pulled up in front of the double garage, Jude departed the car, came around my side and helped me out, his hands sliding around my back and grazing my buttocks. Closing the car door, he scooped me up placing me over his shoulder and opened the front door, carrying me in.

  “Put me down.” I yelled.

  “Not until we reach my bedroom.” He said. “But I’ll hurry up.” He took the stairs two at a time and I squealed, unsure if it was with fright or delight.

  As he turned me the right way around and put me on my feet, I went a little dizzy and leaned towards him. “Falling for me. I like it.” He quipped and then he picked me up again, placing me on the edge of the bed.

  My breath hitched as he knelt before me placing a hand on each ankle.

  “I’ve wanted to touch you so fucking bad all day.”

  His right hand trailed up, following the path of the daisy chain and beyond until he couldn’t access any higher. He pulled me further forwards and hitched up my skirt. Then his fingers started their path again until he trailed them across the front of my lace panties.

  “I can feel your panties are wet, Pippa. I bet if I touch you there, you’ll be soaked for me.”

  I swallowed. “Find out.”

  Lifting my buttocks, Jude pulled my panties down and off, so I sat there, the bottom of my dress rucked up, in killer heels and nothing else. My bare pussy felt the warmth of his breath as he got closer and teased me with a finger, running it through my wetness, teasing my nub and then pushing inside me.

  “Ohhh.”

  “Just as I thought. Soaked. More for me to taste.” Jude leaned closer and his tongue licked up my centre.

  Leaning back, he looked at me through hooded eyes as he licked his lips. “You taste so good on me.”

  Returning to my core, his tongue licked and sucked and nibbled until I was bucking furiously against him. His hands were on my buttocks to stop me falling off the bed as he ate me up.

  Then I was soaring, spasming and trembling against his mouth as he held on wringing out every last tremor from my body. As I went seemingly boneless, he got to his knees, lifted me up and put me on the bed resting my head against his pillows.

  My eyes finally took in my surroundings having been focused entirely on Jude. His room was decorated in pale greys, and there was no doubt in my mind it had all been done by an interior designer. The duvet was black and dark grey squares and made of the softest cotton, the quilt so thick I felt this must be what being in the womb would be like.

  My eyes returned to Jude’s hungry gaze.

  “Strip for me.” I commanded.

  “Bossy. I like it.”

  “You might be the boss of me in the office, but in the bedroom, I get to call the shots too.” I winked.

  Jude shuffled off the bed and loosened his tie. He threw it beside me on the pillow. “In case we need it later.” His belt followed the same path. My eyes drank him in as his jacket and shirt hit the floor and I took in the sight of those perfectly sculpted abs. My tongue ached to lick his body all across the tribal tattoo that adorned his chest and then all the way down that happy trail…

  His trousers came off next and his socks, until he was standing in front of me in just his boxer briefs. Walking to his bedside table he took out a condom and put it on the top of the table, and then he dropped his pants.

  “I have to go for extra-large.” He grinned.

  He wasn’t kidding, his dick was mighty, and I couldn’t wait to see what he could do with it.

  I sat up and pulled my dress over my head and then I pulled off my black satin bra so that all that remained were my black heels with their silk ties. Reaching down to the laces I stopped when Jude growled, “leave them on.”

  I smirked. “Kinky.”

  “I can be. But we’d better start slowly. I don’t want to tire you out too early.”

  With that he leaped onto the bed at the side of me. He pulled me on top of him, so I was straddling his thighs.

  “Okay, boss lady. How do you want me?” He said. I answered him by moving and putting him in my mouth.

  “Oh my fucking god, Pippa. Yes.” He arched up and I took him to the back of my throat. I sucked, twirled my tongue around the tip, and lightly scratched his balls until he was spurting into my mouth and I savoured every last drop.

  “You taste good on me too.” I said, as Jude rolled me underneath him.

  His mouth trailed up the side of my neck, licking and biting and I quivered under his touch. After a while I felt him grow hard again. He moved and sheathed himself before positioning himself between my legs.

  “You sure about this? There’s no going back once we do this.”

  “I’ve swallowed your cum. The professional boundaries are already obliterated, just fuck me already.” I ordered.

  He plunged into me. “God, when you say the word fuck it makes my cock rock hard.”

  “Fuck me hard, Jude.”

  He did and I grasped his buttocks feeling them clench as he thrust in and out of me with measured strokes. Then his pace quickened, and I thrust
my own hips back with vigour until we were both going over the edge.

  Jude pulled me to the side of him, nestling me inside his warm muscular embrace.

  “That was something else, Pippa. I can’t explain it. Other than it was just more.”

  My heart beat faster. Was this just a line Jude trotted out to every woman that ended up in his bed, or did he really feel we could be something more?

  God, listen to me. I was just another pathetic female, hankering for a guy’s attention.

  “I bet you say that to all the girls.” I sighed.

  His body went taut. “No, actually. You’re the first I’ve said it to, and the first I’ve brought home and into my bed.”

  I wiggled in his arms until I was facing him. “Really?”

  “Yes, really. I don’t know what you think you know about me, Pippa, but I think you’ve got me all wrong.”

  I stroked his cheek. “I’m sorry. It was the ‘history with assistants’ thing. Made me assume you were a manslut like Zak. I shouldn’t have.”

  “I’m no virgin, but then you aren’t too, right? So please take my compliments as I mean them. It’s not easy for me to say these things to you. I have Addison. If we do this, we have to take things slow. I can’t get her hopes up; not when she’s obsessed with finding a mother figure.”

  “I have my own family to think of too as you know. So slow and steady wins the race for me, although maybe you should have taken me on that date after all, rather than straight to bed.”

  “My head says slow, my heart and body says fuck it.” Jude confessed. “You’re going to kill me, Pippa Nettleton.”

  I lifted the sheets and looked at his stiff cock. “Yeah, your body definitely says fuck it.” I told him, “now what plans did you have for that tie and the belt?” He rolled me under him again and then I found out.

  16

  PIPPA

  I’d got home late; everyone was in bed. I’d showered at Jude’s and as I laid in bed I could smell the spice of his shower gel on my skin. Sliding down my sheets, I felt the burn between my legs from our frenzied fucking. I replayed his words in my mind, hardly believing that we had got to this stage after our first frosty meeting.

  But I knew one thing. I needed to meet with Ann to see what she wanted me to do. I had this job because of her. I hoped she wasn’t too disappointed because Jude was working hard again, but I’d understand her having reservations about a possible repeat of #AssistantGate.

  The next morning at work was full of knowing smiles passing between Jude and I, and stolen kisses, but we did keep ourselves behaving professionally—for the most part anyway.

  Jude went to a meeting at ten and a few minutes later I locked the door and popped to the cafeteria for a selection of pastries, given that Ann was due to arrive at ten-fifteen.

  She breezed into the office in Fendi, and as I greeted her, she air-kissed me on both cheeks and then gave me a hug.

  “I need to thank you. Jude is a different man since you came on board.” She removed her jacket and placed it over the sofa arm at the side of her, patting the seat at the other side. “Now come, let’s have a drink and one of these delicious pastries and you can tell me how you’ve found it working for Jude. Did you get your bonus payment okay?”

  “I did thank you.”

  “Good.”

  I took a deep breath. “So, I need to talk to you about something, and, well, I’ll understand if you want me to finish today and pack my things, and I will refund the bonus payment.”

  Ann’s eyes widened. “Heavens, what have you done? Killed him? Don’t worry, I’m sure there were grounds.” She laughed.

  “No, I- I’ve fallen for him. I wasn’t immune, Ann. I’m sorry. I messed up.”

  Ann tilted her head to look at me and a smile slowly crossed her lips until it became a huge beam.

  “Oh you’ve not messed up, darling. That’s exactly what I hoped would happen.”

  It was my turn to go wide-eyed. “Pardon?”

  “Darling.” She squeezed my knee. “All the time you’ve been at the salon and telling me how you care for your family, I thought I wished my Jude would find someone like this girl. Then when I got the idea about the assistant post, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to put you in his path. But I wanted you to get to know him first, so I told you I chose you because you seemed immune to good looks and being charmed. If you have ‘fallen for him’ as you put it, even when you’ve no doubt seen him behaving like a shit, then I know it’s the real deal. You have my total blessing, Pippa.”

  “But what if it all goes wrong?”

  “It all went wrong before for Jude. We got through it. You can’t live life on whatifs.”

  “So you don’t want me to leave, or give you your money back?”

  “Absolutely not. You carry on building the relationship with my son, and besides, you’re a fabulous assistant. The bonus payments will continue hitting your bank account at each month end.”

  The door slammed open making us both startle and an angry and puce-faced Jude stormed in. He looked at me like I was shit on his shoe.

  “Bonus payments? God, I thought I’d met someone genuine but you’re just like the others. A money grabbing whore.”

  I gasped. “Jude, it’s not—”

  “Get out. I need to speak to my mother about why she’s felt the need to pay someone to ‘build a relationship with me’.”

  “Jude, you’re getting this all wrong.” Ann said.

  He glared at me, eyes dripping cold fury. “Did you, or did you not get paid a monthly bonus payment to be here?”

  I nodded.

  “How much was I worth?”

  I sighed. “Five thousand pounds. But if you listen to your mother and think about my life, you might understand.”

  “Get the fuck out and don’t come back.” He enunciated slowly.

  “Jude!” His mother yelled, but I’d already grabbed my bag and run out of the door.

  17

  JUDE

  I’d actually thought Pippa was different. And then I stood at the door, my meeting curtailed early by a no-show and listened to the conversation between my mother and Pippa. The door carelessly left ajar so anyone passing could have heard them. It just happened to be me.

  “So you don’t want me to leave, or give you your money back?”

  “Absolutely not. You carry on building the relationship with my son, and besides, you’re a fabulous assistant. The bonus payments will continue hitting your bank account at each month end.”

  Pippa had been paid a bonus to build a relationship with me. Five thousand pounds. That was some payment for a fuck. She was no better than a whore. When she’d gone, my teeth were clenched and my fists tight. I needed a punchbag, or to break something.

  I wasn’t expecting my mother to slap my face.

  “Ow. What the hell was that for? I’ve not done anything wrong. You’re the one paying people to sleep with me.”

  “You’ve slept with her?”

  That wrongfooted me and I slumped down on the sofa. “You know that. She’s just told you.”

  “No she hasn’t. She just told me she’d fallen for you. She asked if I wanted her to leave because that wasn’t part of our agreement.”

  I placed my head in my hands. “I’m so confused. You’d better tell me what’s going on.”

  “I asked Pippa to take the job as your assistant because I knew she wouldn’t fall for your patter if you laid it on her. I also expected you to be a complete arsehole bastard to work for. So to get her to leave her previous regular employment, I offered her a monthly bonus for every month she stayed. She took it because her mother is ill and needs care and Pippa knew she could start making improvements to her home if she took the job. Five thousand is nothing to me; but for Pippa, she can pay for a carer to help with her mum, a childminder to help with the children, and she’s started to make plans for a room downstairs to be converted to a bedroom with a wet room for her mother.”

&nbs
p; I groaned. “Oh God. I fucked up so bad.”

  My mum started yelling. “You think? You called the woman a whore, Jude. A whore. I’m ashamed of you. Truly. I suggest you get over your pity party and go apologise before it’s too late.”

  “I will. I will. Oh God, what have I done?” My eyes were darting around as I tried to think what to do for the best. All I could picture was my rage and name calling and her darting from the office. She hadn’t even grabbed her coat she’d run so fast.

  My mum stood. “You couldn’t help what happened with Tillie. You weren’t to know how things would turn out. But this with Pippa. It’s all on you. I love that girl. I’ve known her a hell of a long time, and when she met me today, she asked me if I wanted her to leave. If I wanted her to pay back the money because she’d fallen for you. That’s how money-orientated she is. I hoped you’d get together. It’s one of the reasons why I put her in post. Someone like Pippa is who you need. Kind, caring, and she understands the needs of small children. This is on you, Jude. If you mess up again, then you put yourself back together from now on. You’re a grown man. Time to start acting like one.”

  With that my mum stood, tapped my shoulder and left.

  And I sat on the sofa wondering what the hell my next step was from here.

  18

  PIPPA

  I was destroyed.

  In tears.

  Angry at Jude.

  Disappointed at myself.

  Angry with myself for falling for my boss.

  Even angrier that I’d lost my job.

  How did I provide for my family now?

  I’d taken the leap from my safe, reliable, regular job.

  And landed in a tangle of broken pieces, including my heart.

  I didn’t know where to go or what to do. If I went home, I could feign illness, but my mother would see straight through it. It wasn’t the first heartbreak I’d experienced. Then she’d start worrying about money and I didn’t need anyone else’s problems right at this minute. I had enough with my own. Wandering the streets, I passed a hotel. I had enough in my bank account to book a night. I didn’t have to rush home. My mum and the kids were taken care of, although it hit me that I would have to give the housekeeper/carer and childminder their notice.