Her brows furrowed together. "What do you mean?”
"I think we've been building to this from the first time you walked into my office."
The quizzical expression morphed into anger. "Just because I have breasts doesn't mean I'm another one of your wham bam thank you ma'am women."
I sighed and sat down in the chair. "That's not what I meant."
Her brow arched. "Didn't you?"
I looked down, pretending that I was straightening my tie, when in fact I was realizing to a certain extent, she was right. Not that I wanted to fuck every woman I ever met, but I suppose I’d seen her as an object of sexual release. Still, I hadn’t imagined her reaction. She was as into me as I was her. After all, she got on her knees and sucked my dick.
"The point is, despite what we think or feel about each other, we have this crazy chemistry. You would agree to that, wouldn’t you?"
She sank back into her chair, as if she acquiesced to my comment, but didn't like it.
"I didn't come in here to fuck you, but I did come in here to make you a proposition."
She gave me her usual smirk. "Proposition?"
"Yes, and it's as scandalous as you think it is." I was always respectful of women, but that didn't mean I was a gentleman. I wasn't beyond asking a woman to participate in something considered sordid.
Her shrewd gray eyes studied me. She leaned forward, resting her forearms on her desk. "All right, let's hear it."
I was relieved to see the feistiness back in her. All the fluttering and regret that she was showing moments ago had unsettled me. But now I could see the fire back in her eyes. She was ready to spar with me again.
"As I said before, whether we like it or not, there is a powerful attraction between us."
"Attraction?"
I shrugged. "Chemistry. Lust. Whatever you want to call it, there's definitely something there. Don't tell me you're going to deny it because what just happened on your desk is proof of it."
"I'm not going to deny it. But just because it's there doesn't mean it's something that we should indulge in. In fact, I know we shouldn't."
I crossed my ankle over my knee and wiped non-existent lent from my pant leg to give me a moment to figure out how I was going to present this proposition.
Finally, I looked up at her. "Well, I suppose it won't be a surprise to you that I completely disagree."
She laughed derisively. "Of course, you do. I say up and you say down. That's how we roll. Or maybe it's just that you let your dick think for you."
"It hasn't been that long since you walked into my office. On the first day you kissed me and not long after that I kissed you back, and now here, the next day, I fucked you on your desk. How long do you think it will be before it happens again?"
"Never." But I could see in her eyes that she knew what I was saying was true. The more time we spent together, the more the tension would build, and eventually it would combust.
"You know that's not true. And if we just let it build like that, we’ll end up having more scenes like this. I agree with you that this should not happen at the office."
"But you think it should happen?"
"I do." I nodded. "My suggestion is that we indulge this thing and let it run its course. Ignite it and then let it flameout. But we do it away from the office. Nobody has to know. There are no strings attached. Just you and me getting this crazy need out of our systems."
"You really think that's going to work?" she asked, but I couldn’t tell if she was buying my theory or not.
"I do. In fact, I think it's our only solution."
She gave me that smirk again. "Of course, you do. Sex is the answer to everything for you, isn't it, Hunter?"
I shrugged. "I won't deny that I enjoy sex.”
She arched a brow in curiosity. "I thought you were a one and done sort of guy. You've already had your one with me. Why do you want more?"
I shifted in the seat as I realized she was right. One and done was my rule, and until now, I hadn't wanted to break it. But there was something about Natalie that I knew one time wasn’t enough. Given the opportunity, I’d fuck her again right now. How much more I would want her, I couldn't be sure. But I was certain it would burn out eventually.
"It appears once isn’t enough."
She studied me for a moment and then gave me her signature smirk. "How many times do you think it's going to take? What if it never flames out. What if you fall in love with me?"
I knew she was just shitting with me, but that didn't mean it didn’t send a terrifying shiver down my spine. "I won't."
She flinched slightly, and I realized that my comment probably offended her. After all I was saying she wasn't someone I would fall in love with.
"Love isn't in the books for me. Not with anyone." I hoped she understood that it wasn't anything about her specifically. Love wasn't something that was ever going to be a part of my life. Not ever again.
She sat back in her chair. "Well, that is an intriguing offer. Certainly, much more interesting than the one you gave me last night that brought me here. Was that your endgame? Offer me a job so then you could proposition me about a no strings attached affair?"
“No. The job is legit. And if you say no, the job is still yours. But don't think that whatever this is between us won't continue to build and be a problem."
She nodded, and for the first time since we started this discussion, I thought maybe she was going to agree to it.
"Well, it's a very fine offer, Hunter. Thank you. It was nice of you to give me a little sample before so I could make an informed decision. However, as nice as that was, I'm going to have to pass."
What the hell? “No?”
She let out a small laugh. "Nobody's ever said no to you before, have they Hunter?"
She wasn't wrong. Any woman that I'd gotten this far along with in terms of discussing sexual proclivities, generally ended up in bed with me. But that wasn't what really had me annoyed. I sat for a moment working through a variety of ways to respond. In the end I defaulted to my usual arrogant, cocky self.
I stood and buttoned my coat. “Well, if you think you can ignore all this heat, particularly since you've had some of it, clearly you are a stronger person than I am." And I strode out her door, glad that I at least, had the last word.
10
Natalie
I'm not sure what shocked me the most. That I just had sex with my boss on my desk or that I'd had sex with Hunter. Scratch that. I knew exactly what shocked me the most. I just had sex with Hunter. I was definitely the live-in-the-moment type to have sex on a desk in an office, but not with Hunter. Never with Hunter. And yet I did.
Not only did I have sex with him, but I was an equal participant. And while now, I could see how wrong it was and how dangerous it was, at the time, it was glorious. So much so that for a moment I considered accepting his indecent proposal. While I might act impulsively at times, I generally wasn't reckless. Spending time with Hunter had danger signs all over it. It was reckless to the nth degree.
I stood on wobbly legs and went around my desk, picking up the sketches Hunter had strewn all over the floor. I use the time to pull myself back together mentally.
With the sketches back in order. I sat down at my desk in an attempt to get back to work. But it was impossible. The scene with Hunter played over and over again. On this very desk. Me laying back on it as he thrust again and again inside me. But I couldn't go there again. Not in my memory and not in real life.
I decided to take a break, and headed down to the employee lounge to get a cup of coffee. When I entered the room, it was empty, and I was glad for it. As I wasn't sure how I’d be able to look anybody in the face after doing what I did with Hunter on my desk. What if Kellie walked in or Ryan?
I'd known taking this job was a bad idea. Maybe it was time to quit. Except then I would look really flaky and I’d disappoint my sister. Then there was the gallery showing that I couldn't pass up. So, I’d stay.
I
found the coffee pod, put it in the coffee maker, and poked the brew button. When the coffee was done, I sat down at one of the tables.
I’d just taken my first sip when Andi walked in. "Oh hey, Natalie. I heard you were here. Welcome to Strong Incorporated."
"Thank you."
She set about making her own cup of coffee, and then sat at the table with me as she waited for it to brew.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. "You look a little flustered, are you alright?"
I rolled my shoulders and waved my hand as if it was nothing. "I’m fine. I just got in a little tête-à-tête with Hunter over the designs I was coming up with."
She nodded toward my cup of coffee. “Perhaps you should switch to some sort of calming tea instead of coffee. Coffee mixed with Hunter, to my mind, just leads to greater agitation. The only thing worse than that would be coffee mixed with Noah."
Maybe she was right, but I already had my coffee and I liked coffee. I wasn't going to change my warm drink of choice simply because of Hunter Strong.
But she did give me an opening to ask more about the Strong brothers. Everything I knew about them pretty much came from Kellie and a little bit from Ryan. But Andi had more of a bird’s eye view being Margaret Strong's assistant and she’d been here longer.
"Hunter looks all modern alpha male, but his taste in designs are atrocious,” I said.
Andy shrugged. "I think they're all just feeling the weight of the new level of responsibility they have. Margaret is planning her retirement and has given them each more responsibility. I imagine Hunter feels it acutely since marketing is a crucial step in selling shoes."
I scoffed. “He's not going to sell anything with the ad campaign he has."
She studied me for a moment. "They can't be that bad."
"They definitely could be better. And by better, I mean it could really make a difference in the amount of sales that they sell."
"I didn't realize you were such a marketing aficionado."
I wasn't sure if she was purposefully challenging me to put me in my place, or just feeling the need to defend the family that she worked for for so long.
"I worked to pay for art school by freelancing as a graphic designer. So, I know a little something about marketing."
"Like I said, he's probably just feeling the pressure from all the changes that are going on."
"Ryan seems to be managing it okay," I said.
"Well, yes, but that’s probably because of Kellie. She's helped him settle down a little bit as well as take his intensity down a notch or two. Before her, he was all business all the time. Now that he has her and the baby coming, his priorities have changed. Hunter and the other boys, all they have is this business."
I scoffed. "I know for fact Hunter has more than this business. You would think a new woman every night would help keep a man more settled."
Andi laughed. "Well yes Hunter is a bit of a horndog. But he's been like that for a long time. That's nothing new. The changes that Margaret has made, that is new."
"What is it about men and being a playboy? I mean, I can understand wanting to hook up on occasion to have that sexual pop,” I said unable to keep the image of Hunter thrusting away at me on my desk. "But night after night? It seems like that would get old. And then if you did meet somebody special, the sex would be meaningless, wouldn’t it?"
"Well first of all, we’re talking about men here who tend to think more with their dicks than women do with their vaginas."
I laughed at that. "So true." After all, wasn't that why Hunter made the obscene proposition that he had? Because despite the fact that he clearly didn't like me and as much as I didn't like him, he was right about that chemistry. He was willing to let his dick lead him into a no strings affair. I was, of course, smarter than that.
"I think, in general, men have a phase they go through in their late teens and twenties. You know that whole sowing your oats type of thing. While most men seem to grow out of it, for Hunter, it’s different. He's clear that love isn't going to be a factor in his life. I'm not sure where that comes from but that's how he's chosen to live his life. He's made quite a thing out of it, actually. According to Noah, he has one specific club, Cesare’s, that he frequents regularly when he's trolling for his next conquest. A man like Hunter, I'm sure has no problems in that area."
"So if Noah know so much about it, then I guess he and Hunter prowl around as billionaire playboys together?"
Andi stiffened slightly and then looked over at the coffee pot. She stood and walked over to get her cup of coffee. "I think for Noah, he’s just in that sowing oats phase, you know. I don't believe he has plans to make it a permanent lifestyle the way Hunter has."
There was something in Andi's changed demeanor that made me wonder if there was something going on between her and Noah. But it was clear since she turned her back to me as she put creamer in her coffee that it wasn't a topic I was supposed to broach.
When she finally had her coffee made, she turned around. "I've got to get back to work. Welcome to Strong Incorporated. If you have any questions or need anything let me know." And with that she walked out of the lounge.
Me, I attempted to go back to work, and I made sure I looked busy, even though I didn't feel particularly productive. At the end of the day, I went home with the goal of painting or doing something creative to get all the pent up energy and regret out of my system. Unfortunately for me, there were two things I couldn’t get out of my head. One was the way Hunter took me on my desk. And two, was the idea that even after propositioning me, he might be trolling for women at the nightclub he liked to frequent. So instead of doing art, I decided to spy.
I was walking through the loud, crowded club side of Cesare’s when I began to wonder if maybe this was a bad idea. What was wrong with me that I was curious to see if Hunter was going to go pickup another woman hours after taking me on my desk? Then I chastised myself for being angry at that idea because what did I care what he did? The fact that I did care was disconcerting.
But I was already inside the club and it would look really weird if I turned round and walked out, so I made my way to the bar.
"Vodka and coke," I ordered.
"Coming right up." The bartender turned away to make my drink. Another bartender picked up his phone, checked his text, and then went over to talk to the man who was making my drink. He looked at the other bartender and next at me, then he shrugged. He brought the drink over to me, setting it on a napkin. "Here you go. It's on the house, compliments of the owner."
Who was the owner? And why was I so special?
I suppose most women would simply accept the gesture and be happy about it. But me? My Spidey sense had me concerned. I wasn’t one to go out clubbing or to be picked up in bars so the whole thing felt really weird to me.
I picked up my drink and turned around, thinking I'd find a place to sit, finish my drink and then hurry out. But as I scanned the room looking for a place that wasn't too loud or too crowded, I saw a familiar face walking towards me.
"Noah," I said as he made a beeline to me.
"Hey Natalie, I thought that was you."
I wondered if Noah was the owner. I didn't know Noah very well, having met him just a couple of times, once at the wedding and on the few occasions that I'd been at family events with Ryan and Kellie.
"What brings you to Cesare’s?" Noah asked while holding a finger up toward the bartender, who nodded and set about making a drink. Apparently, the bartender knew exactly what Noah wanted which solidified my thought that Noah was the owner.
"Actually, I was under the impression your brother Hunter likes to hang out here."
"Got your sights on Hunter, huh?" He asked.
What, no? "Not like that. It's more like a Richard Attenborough out watching wild animals in their own habitat."
Noah let out a loud laugh. "This is definitely a waterhole that Hunter likes to find his prey in."
"So, he is a regular prowler?" I asked.
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Noah took the drink the bartender handed to him. "Well, his name is Hunter after all."
I hadn't thought of it like that. "So, he's just living up to his name?" I asked.
Noah shrugged.
"Does that mean you're going to be building an ark?"
Noah let out another laugh, and it made me wonder why Kellie's friend Andi was so down on Noah. He was bad-boy rockstar handsome, and clearly he had a sense of humor. Still, compared to Hunter, there was something immature about him.
"Well, if I was to build an ark, I'm not sure what I would do with Hunter. I mean didn't Noah gather animals two by two. I don't think Hunter would be satisfied with being a duo."
"Do you think he'd be satisfied doing a duo?"
Hunter was by the book at work, but I had a sense he was much more adventurous and willing to go outside the lines in his sex life.
Again, Noah laughed. "You know, I'm not sure, but Hunter strikes me as a one at a time, guy. He's laser focused and he likes the details. I don't see him spreading himself thin by having two women at once."
I arched a brow. "You thought about this, huh?"
A blush came to know his cheeks. "Well, not really. But you asked and that is my assessment. Now I'm going to drink this and get the thoughts of my brother fucking some woman out of my head."
Some woman. Was that what I’d been this afternoon? Just some woman.
11
Hunter
I was hiding in the back of Cesare’s sulking. Once again, I come down here hoping to find a woman who could help me take my mind off Natalie. But like the night before, I was having no luck. God dammit.
Giving up my place in the private booth to another small group, I headed back to where the security team monitored all aspects of the restaurant and club inside and out. One of my men, Chuck, went to take a quick cigarette break and I assured him that I would offer backup to the other man, George. Between the two monitoring security from here and the four bouncers I had strewn throughout the club and the restaurant, we very rarely had any trouble at Cesare’s.
Giving In To Love: A Friends with Benefits Office Romance (Strong Brothers Book 2) Page 7