“Well, first, I’ll tell you what you won’t be doing. You won’t be calling me Alli Cat. Someone might hear you.”
Colby grins. “I promise. When I walk out that door, I will pretend that the only way I know you is through your daughter. But in here,” and he taps his temple. “You will always be Alli Cat.”
I sigh.
“Taylor will be your supervisor,” I tell him. “Not me. I mean, you’ll ultimately report to me, but Taylor will oversee your duties. I think she’s lined up some marketing research for you to do. She’s interesting and very good at her job. And she’s every bit as much of a firecracker as my friend Sara is, so may God have mercy on your soul.”
He’s laughing as he walks out to see Taylor.
And I’m dropping my head back into my hands.
What a freaking mess.
Chapter Twenty
(Or: Decisions will be the effing death of me)
Colby is quite a hit in the office.
Every time I walk out of my own office for anything, I see the women (young and old) staring at him discreetly. He seems to be oblivious to it, but surely he has to know. He has to feel all of those pairs of eyes glued to his every movement. But then again, he’s probably used to it.
Oddly enough, I’m not jealous. It’s that realization that lets me know that I’m doing the right thing.
And every time I see him and Alex standing side by side, I know that I’m doing the right thing.
Colby is young and handsome and sexy.
Alex is older, refined and sexy. Every bit as handsome and twice the experience. He’s what I need.
He’s what I need.
The words resonate in my head.
And today, when Alex glances up and catches my eye, his cobalt gaze is warm and sparkling, like he knows a secret. And I see now why I kept thinking he looked familiar. He and his son share the same exact eyes. I don’t know how I didn’t place that trait before.
He slaps Colby on the back and makes his way over to me.
From behind him, Colby gives me a stare.
A make-the-right-choice-you-idiot stare.
I ignore it. I know that he’s waiting for his father and I to make the leap—to throw caution to the wind and just openly begin dating. But that’s a hard decision to make, for many different reasons.
As Alex walks towards me, Colby is acting like this is a moment of truth, a pivotal moment where I have to act. But that’s not true. I can continue to take things slow. Alex will still be here. And I will be here.
But we still work together right now, which is a problem.
However, when Alex reaches me and I stare into his gorgeous eyes, I have to admit that I feel the pressure to make a decision….to somehow figure out how to make this work. Because there is such chemistry here, such a palpable attraction, that I’m not sure how much longer I want to resist it. Opportunities don’t always knock more than once. I don’t want to miss the chance to build a relationship with someone that is seemingly so perfect for me.
“I still can’t get over that Colby is your daughter’s swim coach,” Alex says as he stops next to me. “What a small world.”
I practically choke. He has no idea how small.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” he asks me quietly.
Taylor and Colby both pretend not to watch, but I can see them both gazing at us from the corner of their eyes as Alex and I step into my office.
“Of course,” I say instead, closing my door firmly behind us. “Please, have a seat.”
“In a minute,” he says, striding toward me. He takes my face in his hands and crushes his lips to mine.
It is a consuming kiss that threatens to set my hair on fire.
I am gasping by the time it is over.
“I just needed to see,” he murmurs as he steps away.
“See what?” I ask breathlessly. I am limp. I don’t even know what to do.
“See if that would be as good as I imagined.”
“And?” I breathe.
“Oh, it was better,” he assures me. “Alli, we need to sort this thing out. I’ve been lying awake at night thinking about you. It can’t be that difficult. You’re attracted to me, I’m attracted to you. We’re both adults. It’s not rocket science.”
“But we work together,” I state simply. “It will be awkward.”
“It will only be awkward if we make it that way,” he answers firmly. “But how about this--go on a date with me. Let’s see how we get along outside of the realm of work or business. And then, if we still feel the same way, we’ll discuss all of these issues. There is no sense in worrying about it right now. We haven’t even been on a date.”
I stare at him.
“I think we’ll still feel the same,” I tell him softly, watching his lips. All I can do when I’m around him, apparently, is think of him sexually. It’s crazy. I’m an adult, not a teenager.
But you’re a dirty, dirty woman, BB reminds me. I ignore her. BB is a wanton tramp. What does she know?
“I think so too,” Alex answers, taking another step toward me. I only have a brief second to inhale before his lips are covering mine again. My hands are on his back, which is muscular and broad, and I am melting into him. He tastes like mint and smells like man. His lips are soft and his arms are strong. And his penis is hard. I know it right now…I’m in serious trouble.
“This date you speak of,” I say as he finally pulls away and I adjust my clothing. “When and where?”
Alex grins, an alarmingly breathtaking smile. He seems oblivious to the fact that his penis is so hard that it almost impaled my leg a second ago.
“Tonight. There’s a little Italian restaurant on twenty-first street. Manini’s. Do you know it?”
I stare at him in shock. It’s the very same place I had suggested when Brainy Brian couldn’t make a decision. It’s too ironic.
“Yes. I love that place,” I answer.
He smiles again, pleased. “Good. Why don’t I pick you up at 7:00?”
I swallow. “Okay.”
He closes in on me once again, crushing me to him. Once again, his rock-hard penis is against my hip. BB whimpers.
“Or we could make it a lunch date,” he suggests in my ear. He smells so good and feels so amazing pressed against me that I can hardly think straight.
“Okay,” I agree, without even thinking about what it would look like. I take a breath and pull away. “Wait. This is what I’m talking about. This is why it is complicated since we work together. People will see us leave. They’ll know what we’re doing.”
He stares at me. “Do you care what people think?”
“Not usually,” I admit. “But when they are my staff, I do care if they think I’m being unprofessional. Because then I won’t have a leg to stand on if I have to reprimand them for the same thing at any given point.”
“You’re their boss,” he reminds me. “You’ll never have to reprimand them for leaving in the middle of the morning to have a date with their boss. Because you’re their boss. And I’m pretty sure that you’re going to be dating me.”
I suck in breath. I love that he is so decisive.
“But we haven’t even gone on a real date yet,” I tell him. “You can’t possibly know that.”
He smiles. “I’ve got great intuition. Get your purse.”
I’m frozen now as I look at him. “But it’s only 10:00 am.”
Alex nods. “I’ve changed my mind. We’re going to brunch.”
I have to chuckle, but I do as he says. I grab my purse. We walk nonchalantly out of my office and I stop to tell Taylor that Alex and I have a meeting outside of the building. Since she keeps my calendar, she knows that there is no such meeting.
But to her credit (and for once in her lifetime) she doesn’t say anything. She just nods. Colby looks up from his cubicle knowingly, but he doesn’t say anything, either, although I see a little smirk on his face as I pass by.
Alex and I make our way through the
parking garage and honest-to-god we barely get into the car before we are practically attacking each other in the front seat.
Alex’s hands are everywhere, his mouth is on my neck, on my lips. My hand finds its way to his crotch which is rock hard and straining against his pants. He groans when I touch him.
“You’re making me crazy,” he whispers. And I suddenly feel oh-so-powerful. This important man is groaning beneath my fingertips? It’s a heady feeling. I kiss him hard.
His hand finds my breast, his fingers long and strong through the thin silk.
“We need to leave here,” I tell him. We are surrounded by the dark, cement walls of the parking garage, but anyone could walk past and see into his car. And then we could get led away in handcuffs for indecent exposure or something. That would not be good.
“Yes,” Alex agrees stiltedly. He shifts into Drive and my hand never leaves his crotch. In fact, as he drives out of the building, I am leaning over and unzipping his pants, the skin of my hand sliding across the skin of his penis. He sucks in his breath.
“Are you testing my concentration?” he asks feverishly. I glance at him, at the way his mouth has pulled tight and I laugh.
“Are you having trouble concentrating?” I ask innocently. He glances at me for a split second before he swerves over to the side of the road and parks, practically crushing me against the passenger seat as he kisses me.
“You’re going to have to behave,” he tells me. “Until we get to where we’re going.”
“And where is that?” I ask against his lips.
“Our date,” he reminds me. “We’re playing hooky today. We’re got a theory to test out. Now, you sit over there and be good. I’ll drive.”
He looks at me, his eyebrow raised. I nod.
“Fine,” I answer. “If you can’t multi-task, then I’ll behave.” Alex practically growls as he pulls back into the road and I have to laugh.
He drives us straight to the Stratosphere Hotel. It’s a staple in the Las Vegas landscape and to be honest, since I’m a local, I’ve never actually stayed in the hotel.
“Why are we here?” I ask as he parks the car.
“We have a date,” he growls.
He guides my elbow as we check in. I press myself discreetly against him as he signs the registration form and he gives me a sidelong gaze. I step away and return his gaze innocently. When he returns his attention to the form, I press myself against him again. He sighs.
But it isn’t long before we’re in the elevator and he turns to me.
“We’re alone,” he points out. And that’s all it takes.
I’m in his arms immediately, inhaling his sexy-as-hell scent and wrapping my tongue around his. It’s funny how when you fantasize about someone, typically you don’t find out how they would actually be in person. I am pleased to report that Alex is ten million times better than my fantasies.
He pins me to the gold mirrored wall, his hand sliding up between my legs.
“You’re wet for me,” he whispers in my ear. “I can tell through your panties. Today of all days, why did you wear panties?”
I laugh. “I told you, I usually do.”
“New rule,” he says with a growl. “No panties.”
I laugh as I grab him through his slacks. He is so hard that there is a perfect indention of his penis through his pants. I shove it against me, grinding it into me. He groans again which totally turns me on.
“New rule,” I tell him. “No pants. Ever.”
It’s his turn to chuckle. “That might make meetings at work awkward. Although, you somehow manage it.”
I glare at him as my fingers tighten around him through his pants. “One time. One freaking time and I’m never going to hear the end of it, am I?”
He’s already shaking his head and laughing. “Alli, I’m sorry, but that particular incident was too good to ever let you forget it.”
I’m rolling my eyes as the elevator glides to a stop and the doors open, letting two other people on. The younger couple looks at us and we separate. I know my cheeks are flushed.
Alex flashes me a you’re-going-to-get-it look. I flush again.
The elevator finally stops on our floor and we hurry out and down the hall. Alex slides the key in the lock and we tumble through the door. I drop my purse and turn to him and he shoves me against the wall, lifting my ass in his hands as he pushes his tongue into my mouth.
This moment is hot and primal and I totally give in to it.
My delicate silk shirt doesn’t last long. It’s ripped off within a minute and I watch the torn fabric bits fall to the floor. My stockings follow and then I’m lifted again, my legs wrapped around Alex’s strong hips. One quick rustle of foil and then he’s sliding into me with my skirt shoved up around my waist.
I gasp, pulling him closer, pulling his head into my breasts. He sucks there; licking, lapping, nipping. I moan and he rams into me harder. The wall grates against my back, but I don’t even notice it. All I can focus on is Alex’s ragged breathing, his beautiful body, his intoxicating smell and this erotic moment.
He grabs me and carries me to the bed with my legs wrapped around his waist. He lays me down quickly with his hand beneath my head, kissing me so thoroughly that I think I will go insane unless he’s inside of me again.
“Please,” I tell him, pulling at him.
“Please what?” he asks impishly, purposely resisting my fingers.
“Please fuck me,” I tell him, remembering Shade’s words. Men like naughty words.
Alex smiles wickedly. “Fuck you how?” he asks softly as he slides into me.
“Fuck me hard,” I tell him. “I’ve been waiting for this forever.”
He inhales and grabs me, sliding into me roughly. And he does fuck me hard. After a while, he flips me over and enters me from behind, pulling my head back by my hair with just the right amount of pressure.
Oh, my lord.
This is erotic and primal and almost desperate, because the sexual tension has built up for so long. And now it is exploding.
After I shout his name and collapse onto the bed, Alex throws his head back and comes with a shudder. And then he drops into a heap next to me. He is damp and so am I. He reaches over and brushes my hair out of my eye.
“That was amazing,” he tells me. “You’re a wildcat.”
I smile. “I think the proper term is cougar.”
He chuckles and I nestle into his side. “I thought cougars dated younger men?”
A pang shoots through me, but I set it aside. That’s a part of my life that is private. I never have to reveal it. So, I smile instead.
“Oh, I like to think that a cougar is simply a mature woman who knows what she wants- both in the bedroom and out.”
“Oh, you certainly are that,” Alex agrees.
We lay entwined on the plush bed for the next half hour, relaxing and chatting softly. Finally, I look up at him.
“I think we’re sexually compatible.”
He laughs. “Um, yes. I think that is safe to say. Not that I ever had any doubts.”
He bends his head and kisses me, gently this time. The sense of desperation is gone now and so this time, we allow ourselves the luxury of being slow and relaxed.
He slides his hands everywhere and tells me that I’m beautiful. I mimic his movements and tell him the same.
“Men aren’t beautiful,” he says with a smile as he kisses my neck.
“You are,” I argue as I cover his lips with my own.
And then he makes love to me. And it does feel like making love. With Shade, it was never that. It was sex… it was fucking… it was fucking amazing. But it wasn’t making love.
With Alex….there is something here between us. Something amazing. And something tender and sweet and sexy and fucking hot. And it does feel like making love. And we make love three more times before we realize that it is 3:00 pm.
“Look at the time!” I exclaim as I finally glance at the clock. “Sophie will be g
etting home from school in an hour or so.”
“Can you call and tell her that you’ll be late?” Alex asks as he sits on the side of the bed. “We have a shower to take and then I think I could use some food for sustenance.”
I glance at him. “Sustenance?”
Alex laughs. “I’m not as young as I used to be. I require food and drink after having sex four times. We were supposed to have brunch, you know, until you distracted me with your feminine wiles.”
I stare at him. “Um, you impaled my leg with your penis in my office. You’re hardly innocent in this.”
He laughs again.
I shake my head and let him pull me to the big stone shower. Where, even though he hasn’t had any sustenance yet, we have sex for a fifth time.
As the steam covers us up and with my face pressed against the foggy shower glass, Alex fills me up yet again. I’ve never felt so fulfilled.
And being with him seems so unbelievably right.
“We fit, Alli Cat,” he whispers in my ear and I freeze, turning into him.
“Alli Cat?” I ask tremulously. Surely Colby hadn’t said anything to him. Surely. That would be sick on so many levels. But Alex’s face is open and honest and unfazed as he answers.
“You’re my wild little Alli Cat, “he replies. And I can tell that he just made the name up. He has no idea that his son has used it before him. “And we do fit perfectly together.”
“We do,” I admit with a sigh. “What are we going to do about that?”
“We’ll figure it out,” he says with a shrug. “We’re two intelligent adults.”
When we get out of the shower, I find a text from Sophie. She’s going to Hayley’s to do homework and won’t be home until later.
I turn to Alex. “I’m free for dinner. But there is a small problem… you ripped my shirt off. I can’t go naked.”
Alex grins. “I guess we’re even now. You ruined a pair of my pants and I ruined one of your shirts. The score is tied, milady.”
I laugh and he ducks out to buy me a shirt in the gift shop.
And that is how Alex and I end up in the World Restaurant in the top of the Stratosphere having dinner while I wear an oversized souvenir t-shirt, a dress skirt and kick-ass heels. And of course, we are eating steak.
Confessions of an Alli Cat Page 18