by Piper Lawson
“Monday you’ll have your space to yourself again.” The memo this afternoon had said the floors would be done over the weekend.
I could’ve sworn disappointment flickered through his gaze. “What. Don’t tell me you’re going to miss me?”
Avery rubbed a hand over his jaw, rueful. “I’ll get a hell of a lot more work done.”
I wondered if he was remembering the way I’d pulled his tie down. Then unbuttoned his shirt. Then jerked him off.
He glanced toward my stomach like he was wondering if I’d washed it off.
How many times do you have to hook up before you’re officially messing around?
It sure as hell felt like this was a thing.
On the list of NSFW activities not to be undertaken at the office…this was at the top.
But it was so good.
“What are you wearing,” Avery murmured.
“Excuse me?”
“To the gala in a week.”
“Oh. Right.” The way he demanded made me wonder what he was going to do with that information. If he was just curious, or if he was going to use it for a mental visual tonight in the shower.
I really wanted it to be the second.
“A dress. It’s black. Tight. Ends about here.” I drew a line midway down my thighs, and his gaze followed.
“Where does it start?”
I drew my finger over my clavicle. “Got to leave something to the imagination.”
“Mmm. I have an excellent imagination.”
I went from having my shit together to wet panties in about two seconds.
Avery must’ve read it on my face because his hand found my waist under the edge of the bar, where no one would see. Stroking my side with his thumb.
I didn’t want to be standing here in this bar. I wanted Tilt to fall away, and every last person with it, until it was just me and him. I wanted him to strip off every piece of clothing and put that dirty mouth on me.
“Hey! I’m back.” Payton pulled up beside us, along with Rose.
I blinked out of my fantasy.
“Any plans tonight?” I asked Rose, noticing she was wearing some new heels and had her hair looked more styled than usual.
Rose made a face. “I had a dinner date, but I’m going to have to cancel. I have to run a favor for Armand.”
Avery raised a brow. “Now?”
“Yeah. I’m on probation since I’m a temp.” She flushed. “I shouldn’t even be talking about it. It’s fine.”
We realized at the same time the awkwardness of her venting to the nephew of the man she worked for. The power dynamic was suddenly painfully obvious.
“I want to send all the assistants to lunch,” Avery announced. “Bartley’s. Pick any day next week. I’ll give Charlotte my credit card, you can do your worst.”
“Me too?” Payton asked innocently.
“Nice try. Just the admin staff. Unless you’re offering to help with my expense claims.”
Payton held up her hands. “Not even for lobster rolls.”
“Fine, then.” With a satisfied look, Avery turned and started toward the door.
Rose blinked at both of us. “What’s Bartley’s?”
“Expensive seafood and Italian place,” I offered. “High-end clients only. Or this week, apparently, us.”
The smile stretched across her face.
“It’s Emma’s favorite,” Payton jumped in. “She’s going to freak when she finds out.” She turned to me. “You know anything about that?”
“Nothing. Be right back, OK?”
I wove my way through the crowd to the door. I caught up with him outside on the curb, grabbing the arm of his jacket.
“What was that?” I asked, breathless.
His sea blue eyes lightened as he squinted against the sun. “Appreciation.”
“So where are you going in such a hurry?” I asked, my throat dry. It was stupid, but I wasn’t ready to see him leave.
He pulled his sunglasses from his pocket and slid them on. “I forgot to get my sister a birthday present. She’s going to New York this weekend with friends.”
I remembered the sister I’d talked briefly with on the phone. “You guys deal with the tuition thing yet?”
“There’s nothing to deal with. It’s paid, and she can’t do a thing about it.”
It was arrogant and high handed. But my heart melted a little.
Avery glanced toward the street, then back at me. “Want to help me pick something out for her? As my assistant,” he added.
“I think that’s the first time you’ve asked me to do something.”
“I ask you all the time.”
“You tell me to do things.”
Avery shoved his hands in his pockets. “Fine, if you don’t want to—”
“Give me two minutes.”
I dashed back inside to pay my bar bill and say goodbye to my friends before returning, sliding on my own sunglasses. “What do you usually get her?” I asked as we strode down Newbury side by side.
“Gifting isn’t my strength.”
“No judgment.”
“Bed, Bath and Beyond. Home repair. A phone.”
I glanced over at him; his expression was hidden behind the Ray-Bans. “That’s so responsible of you.”
He shot me a look. “I had to be. My mother had…difficulties. One of which was making decisions.”
His voice grated like he was reliving it.
“What about your father?”
“He left when I was fourteen. Kenna was four.”
“I’m sorry.” My throat burned. “What happened?”
“I don’t talk about it.”
“With me or with anyone?”
“Anyone.”
I focused on the sidewalk in front of me, but I could feel him at my side. “Maybe you should try.”
I thought he was going to change the subject, or stop talking entirely. But half a block later he spoke again.
“They had a complicated relationship. She’d hurt him, he’d hurt her back. But my mother blamed Kenna when he finally left.”
“Why?”
“Because she’d had an affair. And Kenna was the product of that affair.”
He said it matter-of-factly, but I saw his hand fist at his side. “One night I got home after hanging out with a friend and Kenna was sitting in the kitchen with a spilled box of Cheerios because my mom wouldn’t feed her dinner. Another time she left Kenna at the mall.
“But I knew things had escalated the day of the accident. She’d been on the phone in the car, talking to one of her friends. Kenna was in the back seat—not in her car seat, though. My mom drove through a red light and totaled the car. Kenna wound up with a broken arm, but it could have been worse.”
“That must have been terrifying.”
“You’d think so. But it barely affected my mother. That’s when I realized: my mother didn’t want Kenna.”
“What about you?”
“She’d look at me like I was my father. Some days that was good, other days it was bad. So I starting taking over the house, making decisions. Getting groceries. Cooking meals. Managing the budget. Signing Kenna’s forms for school. I didn’t trust our mother to look after Kenna.
“One day she called me on it. Told me to leave. Unless I thought I was a better parent, in which case I should take Kenna and go.”
“An ultimatum?”
He nodded. “She was incapable of making the right choices. Everything she wanted was to make her life better, not our lives. So I took Kenna and went.
“My father had left me enough money for school. I’d saved some thanks to scholarships, and Armand helped me get the job at Alliance. I was able to get the down payment for a townhouse. Kenna moved in with me when she was fourteen. It wasn’t legal, but my mom wasn’t about to challenge it.”
The sun beaming down on us was a stark contrast to the heavy conversation. I took in the other pedestrians on the sidewalk, wondering which of them were harb
oring secrets like the ones Avery carried around with him.
Like we both did.
“It must have been hard, living with a teenage girl.”
“There were days I questioned it,” he said dryly. “But it was the right thing to do.”
“So you finished law school but you didn’t practice.”
“I could’ve been disbarred for having Kenna live with me without my mother’s consent. But it wasn’t right. I couldn’t uphold rules like that.”
I processed what he’d told me. “If you could go back, would you change anything?”
Avery hesitated. “No. I wanted Kenna to have the same opportunities as me, which is why I’m supporting her school. She works as a camp counsellor every July and August. It doesn’t pay much, but she loves it. She’s offered to take on more than that, but I don’t want her to. She’ll get up and have to work every day for the rest of her life, and it’ll come sooner than she thinks. Through everything she’s been through, she’s stayed tough. And positive.”
“That’s kind of amazing.”
“She is.”
“I meant you.”
His head turned toward me, surprise etched on his face. We waited in silence for the light to change so we could cross the street.
“This is the most I’ve talked about myself in…ever.” He cleared his throat. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“Of course not. Besides, I can’t be the only one you’ve ever talked to.” At his blank look, I went on. “I mean, you must have had girlfriends.”
“No. Just a few women I’ve taken to work things.”
“And you’ve never wanted one?” I was interested. Not fishing.
“Relationships breed dependence. Most successful people put one thing first. Thinking about other people makes you weak. Keeps you from having your head on straight. Anyway, enough about me. You have brothers? Sisters?”
“Two brothers, Matt and Jimmy. Both older. They used to get into a lot of trouble.”
“Only them?” Avery’s mouth pulled up at the corner.
“Oh, yeah. I was an angel. But Jimmy’s getting married soon.”
“You’re going.”
“I’m not sure. There’s a lot going on here.”
He leveled me with a look. “Charlotte, I’m not a monster. You can go home for your brother’s wedding.”
“It’s not that. In fact, it’ll be after I finish at Alliance. It’s just…I left my hometown abruptly. A major scandal.”
Avery waited, and I forced a smile. “I had an affair with a married man.”
The startled expression on his face was reasonable. I’d never said the words to anyone except Payton and my grandparents. Plus, given what he’d shared about hit family…I could understand if he’d hate me for it.
“I know. It’s kind of fucked.” I forced my attention to the pavement in front of us, trying not to care about his reaction.
“I’m not judging you.” His voice said that wasn’t quite true, but I believed he was trying. “But I don’t understand why you would. You could have any man you wanted.”
I slanted him a look. “You think so, huh?”
“You’re smart. Resourceful. Funny. Thoughtful.” He paused. “Beautiful.”
The flush that rose up in my cheeks had nothing to do with the heat. “I was also eighteen. And he lied about not having a wife.” I swallowed the familiar pain that rose up, forged ahead. “Anyway, my grandparents helped me out. Took me in. But today’s not about my family, it’s about yours.”
I could tell Avery was going to push, but we were interrupted.
“Excuse me.” I glanced back at the young woman behind us. “This is so weird, but I have to know…are you Blond Bitch? If not, you look just like her. Can I get a picture?”
I smiled. “Sure.”
I held my bag to a confused Avery as I posed for a selfie with the girl. She grinned and headed off down the sidewalk.
“What the hell just happened.”
“I told you about my social account where I post fashion stuff and review shoes.”
“Fifty thousand followers,” he said, nodding. “But I didn’t realize you were a media personality.” I clicked onto my phone, showed it to him. “BBB,” he read off the profile.
“Boston Blond Bitch.”
He scrolled through my feed. “I’m following you as of right now.”
I rolled my eyes and snatched my phone back. “Don’t. That’s the best part. It’s anonymous. Er, mostly. ”
He’d found the profile on his own and was in the process of scrolling through posts. I knew what he’d see—photos and caustic one-liners about shoes and outfits. What I didn’t know was what he’d make of it.
He pulled the sunglasses down his nose to shoot me a look. “You’re kind of hot, you know that?”
“Shut up.”
“I’m not kidding. Look, this guy Tweeted you a proposal. Does this happen often?”
I laughed. “Nope. And it only counts if it’s in person. Like, with a ring.”
“How many of those have you had.”
“Two.”
Avery shook his head slowly. I tucked my arm in his as the walk sign lit up and we started moving again.
“Come on. Let’s get your sister the birthday present of a lifetime.”
16
Sex! With a Man!
“Seriously? This is better than soap?” Avery held up a lantern and inspected it.
“A million times yes.”
The camping store was one I’d seen advertised but had never been to. Camping is not high on my priority list. Still, it was fun to have an excuse to wander the aisles of gear and clothing.
“We all think that buying more shit will make us happy. But we care about experiences. That’s what we’ll remember.”
“Experiences,” he echoed.
“Yeah. Like, I’ve always dreamed of taking my grandma to New York to see Kinky Boots.” Avery froze. I laughed at his expression. “It’s a musical. Grams was a Rockette but hasn’t visited New York since my grandfather died five years ago.”
“So do it.”
I lifted a shoulder. “It’s expensive. You know what I make.”
“Says the woman who gets free designer shoes. You’ll figure it out. You could figure out anything.”
His confidence warmed me as I picked a neon pink Thermos off a shelf. Unscrewed the lid and looked inside.
“You know, I do have a few thousand in the freezer.”
He shot me a horrified look. “You work at a bank and that’s how you save.”
I let out a laugh. “It’s from promotions on BBB. A little side hustle.”
Avery came up behind me as I set the Thermos back down. “Of course it is.” His admiring look had my mouth pulling up at the corner.
“Don’t you have any hobbies?” I asked.
“Played poker online through school.”
“You like it fast and loose.”
“I like winning.”
He followed me up the stairs to the second level. That’s when I saw it. It sat up on a platform, surrounded by others. But this one was perfect—a shiny beacon of gifting greatness.
“Bingo,” I breathed.
“No way. It’s a coffin.”
“Come on!” I dropped to my knees and crawled inside the two-person tent.
I waited a moment before Avery’s head appeared between the zippered panels. Laughter bubbled up as he crawled in after me.
“I’ve always wanted to see you crawl.”
But he made it in and I managed to zip the thing closed after us.
“This is a neon advertisement telling the bears and the cougars where to find you,” Avery grunted as we wedged in next to each other.
“We don’t have cougars here. Besides, there’s something romantic about it.” I scooched over onto my back, blinking up at the ceiling.
“There’s no room. If I breathe, I’m choking on nylon.”
I rolled to face him. He shoul
d’ve looked ridiculous lying on his side in the tent, the dim light filtering through.
He didn’t.
He looked like a Burberry ad transplanted into the middle of the woods. Because with the zipper shut, I could imagine that’s where we were.
It was wicked appealing.
Avery’s smell filled my nose. He was everywhere, and suddenly all I could think about was how big he was. That his mouth was inches away.
His gaze roamed mine, and I knew the second our brains synced up. At least I hoped they did, hoped I wasn’t the only one with some pretty basic needs hijacking my mental capacity.
My lumberjack fantasy came back full force. Plus a shockingly detailed memory of the way he’d come on my tits, his face a mask of tension and satisfaction. His hand went to my hip, his thumb brushing in the hollow there, and I had to remember how to breathe.
“So you’re out here, under the stars,” I whispered. “The…fresh air.”
Fuck fresh air.
“Um. Nature.”
Fuck nature.
The tent was our cocoon, protecting us from the rest of the world. He inched closer, and when his hand reached to tuck a piece of hair behind my ear, I could feel his heart beat through our clothes.
“Since we’re out here in the forest…can I tell you something?” he murmured.
All I could do was nod.
Avery’s mouth brushed my ear. “I want to fuck you so fucking badly.”
I swear I melted.
It wasn’t poetry. Or a song. It was better, because it was true.
Our gazes met and he shifted over me, slow and controlled. His hard body pressed mine into the ground.
Floor.
Whatever.
What was important was that mouth that I was suddenly desperate to taste was a breath away. In fact, every part of him was in arms’ reach.
Now, in this private place with him, I wanted him to kiss me.
Then keep going.
“It kills me when you look at me like that,” Avery murmured. “It’s got me remembering how soft you are under my hands.” He stroked my breast and I arched against him, lighting up from his touch through my thin shirt. “Here…” he moved to my waist, reaching under the hem to tease the skin there. “And here…” he squeezed my ass before hitching my leg around his hip.