An Affair Across Times Square

by Rachell Nicole

  If she was still in town, she’d be there, in her room. But six days. That was a hell of a long time to wait just to go on a date with him.

  * * * *

  Layla looked out the window, brushing fresh tears from her eyes. She didn’t know if she’d ever stop crying over him. What had she expected? That he’d rush right across the street as soon as the office mail guy dropped the box onto his desk? She kind of had. She walked on bare feet across the cherry hardwood floors to the fridge and took out a beer. She popped it open and drank half of it down.

  Her phone rang. Two weeks, and she still hoped every time that Tyler was on the other end. She answered.

  “Layla, it’s me,” Bill said. “Can you come in early tomorrow? Got some stuff I want to go over on Connely’s case.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll be in around noon. Is that early enough?”

  “Perfect. I’ll see you then.” They hung up as she took out stuff to make a sandwich.

  She’d have to start keeping regular business hours soon, but for now, DA Bill, her new permanent boss, was happy to let her keep a three p.m.-to-midnight schedule. Except when he needed her in earlier, like tomorrow. As assistant district attorney, she would have to take on more cases and work more during the daytime and with the police. She didn’t know if she could handle it, but she had to at least try.

  She set Derek Lachlan’s file out of her sandwich-making area. She hadn’t finished going through all the evidence, but she was pretty sure she’d be able to gather the evidence Tyler had searched his entire adult life for. She’d mail it to him as soon as she found it. It was the least she could do after lying to him.

  The phone. She picked it up, her heart clenching again. “Hello?” She hated the hopeful note in her voice. She knew Tyler wouldn’t be calling her, but still she hoped.

  “Lay, you are not going to believe this,” Eddie said instead of hello.

  “Oh, boy, gossip time already?” She smiled and looked up to the exposed beams, wondering again why Tyler had left this place. He’d loved it so much. She hoped it didn’t have anything to do with her.

  “Mr. Tyler Lachlan just left here with a baseball clutched in his hand. He’s on his way over there right now.”

  Oh, shit.

  “Yeah, that’s right.”

  She hadn’t realized she’d said that out loud.

  “Thought you might want a heads-up.”

  “Yeah, thanks. How’d he seem?”

  “Pissed that you weren’t here.”

  Right, like she was supposed to just wait around for him to open the box, sitting there dressed for a night out…for nine freaking days. What the hell was he thinking?

  “And really surprised when I told him where you were.”

  “Okay, gotta go now.”

  “You better call me,” he said as she shut off the phone. She left the sandwich stuff on the counter and ran into the minuscule bathroom. She swept her hair back from her face, trying to corral it into submission. Her eyes were red, her face red beneath her dark skin. Nothing much she could do about the eyes. She tossed her comfy pajama bottoms into the hamper but left his shirt on. She’d been wearing it to bed almost every night, anyway. She took another quick glance at the mirror as someone knocked on the door. She ran out of the bathroom and stopped before the dark wood.

  She glanced through the peephole just to make sure she didn’t open the door half-naked for some neighbor. The sight of Tyler, even through the distortion, made her breath catch. This was it. The moment of truth. She grabbed the handle and turned it, pulling the door toward her. Tyler looked at her in his shirt, in his apartment.

  “I can’t believe you bought this place.” He made no move to come closer. His eyes were wide, shiny. And red. Just like hers.

  “I came by looking for you after you didn’t show up for our date. The Realtor was showing it. I’d just been offered a permanent job in the city, so I asked her how much it was. And if she knew where you were. I got the apartment. You were another matter.”

  He held the baseball out to her. “So you stole my shirt and my apartment and gave me this lousy baseball in return?”

  God, his voice sounded so strained. So unlike him. Hurt. Like he was forcing that light tone into his words. “It came with a note,” she murmured.

  “Yeah, I read that, right up until the part where you said you were ready for date number three and I realized the damned postmark from the office was six days ago. It came to this address first and got forwarded to my new place.”

  So he hadn’t read it nine days ago when she’d first dropped it off and then ignored her. He’d rushed over to the hotel to see her, and she hadn’t been there. That had to mean he felt something for her other than disdain, right? By the way he still stood in the hallway, she wasn’t sure. Maybe he needed a nudge, other than her greeting him at the door wearing nothing but his dress shirt. She grabbed the file off the counter and handed it to him.

  “I’ve been doing a little light reading in my spare time.”

  She watched his eyes widen as he recognized what she’d handed him. He almost dropped the baseball.

  “I haven’t found the proof you’ve wanted yet, but I will.” She made it a promise.

  “You really were flown out here from California to work on that case, weren’t you?”

  She nodded. He clutched the file, the note, and the baseball in his hands, still unwilling to cross the threshold. She didn’t know what else to say to him, what else to offer. She thought for a second she caught the sheen of tears in his eyes.

  “I’m not dressed for date night.” Her voice sounded just as strained as his had.

  “What did the rest of your note say?” Still he didn’t come in. She hoped her new neighbors didn’t walk by and see her standing in the doorway like this.

  “That I was sorry I was such a freaking idiot and that I’d like to start again…maybe at date number one. And throw all those stupid rules out the window.”

  He nodded. “I have a lot of questions.”

  “I know.” He had a right to know all the answers.

  “Were you sleeping with your boss?”

  Okay, that one took her by surprise. “No,” she said. But then she realized there was more to it than that. “I’d wanted to, at first. But he’s married, and that was never going to happen to me again. Which is kind of why I decided to start things off with you. I didn’t want to jump into a relationship with anyone, but I knew if I kept spending too much time with Brian, I’d be tempted. So I put all those rules in place to keep us from having a relationship, because I knew I was leaving. And I know how awful I am at trying to actually be with someone. I was tired of being the woman a guy didn’t want to introduce to his mother. Except then there you were, introducing me to your freaking mother, after I’d acted all kinds of slutty.”

  He shook his head and finally stepped into the apartment. “So why did you buy this place?”

  “Because you loved it, and I couldn’t understand why you’d leave it.” She still didn’t. He closed the door behind him and looked around.

  “I do love this place, but I left the firm. I didn’t think I’d be able to afford it anymore, and I was regretting my decision until the Realtor told me she found a buyer who wanted to pay cash for this place, and the one next door.”

  “That would be me.” She smiled at the look on his face. “Sorry, but that closet is too small, and I’ve decided I’m going to stay for a while. The place next door was for sale, so I bought it too.”

  “Is that all the note said?”

  Oh, he’d read the whole damned thing, and he was going to make her say it, anyway. Evil man. Well, if he already knew, she should be able to say the words, right? She took a deep breath.

  “It said that I love you. And you know it.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t read anything past the part where you said you’d be waiting for me.” He stepped closer and dropped everything on the counter. He wrapped his arms around her, his sk
in warm through the cotton fabric of his shirt.

  SHE LOVED HIM. Tyler couldn’t believe she’d said it. He moved back from her, leaned down to kiss her soft lips. It was as if she’d been waiting for him to kiss her forever. She kissed him back, pulling him closer and yanking at his clothes until he had to break contact with her lips to undress. And then they were going up in flames. Two weeks—two weeks he’d been waiting to get his hands on her. Been dreaming about her laugh and her eyes and her body. He tossed his shirt to the floor, undid his jeans, and kicked off his shoes. She lifted herself onto the counter, and he took a moment to admire her.

  Oh, she really knew all his favorite things. She grabbed a slice of tomato off the counter and sucked it into her mouth. He pulled out his wallet and snagged the emergency condom, then left his pants and boxers on the floor. He lost his socks and put the condom on. All the while, she kept feeding herself, her hands roaming over her body. She licked her lips and made delightful little moaning sounds.

  He slipped his hands under the edges of the shirt. She lifted her hips so he could slide her panties off. He let them drop to the floor as he pulled her ass off the edge of the counter. She leaned back on her elbows and wrapped her legs around his hips. She was so eager. He slid into her as she moaned his name.

  She was slick and ready for him.

  “God, I missed you,” she said.

  He laughed and picked up the pace. He felt her thighs tighten against his hips with each thrust as she pulled him into her deeper and deeper. She whimpered as she lay there on the counter. Her counter. His counter. She was close. Good thing too, because he couldn’t keep up this pace much longer, or he would explode.

  He slowed down, feeling her tighten around his shaft as he dipped in and out of her. She glared up at him and tightened her legs.

  “Don’t you dare stop.” She was breathless. Needy. For him—all for him. He laughed and panted. He had to prolong the sweet torture just a bit longer. He stood immobile as she tried to make him move. He chuckled harder, hoping the slight vibration would penetrate her core where just the tip of him touched her.

  Her answering quiver confirmed that she could, indeed, feel it.

  Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip. Then her gaze turned darker. Naughtier. She was definitely up to no good. She trailed her hands over her breasts and unbuttoned the shirt, opening it wide. What a beautiful sight. Her left hand slid down her belly to the tips of her dark curls. She found her clit and groaned, her other hand pulling one beaded nipple. She stroked herself on top and bottom, her sheath squeezing him with each thrust of her hand. He slammed into her. She gasped, her hand still busy between their bodies, and then she was screaming, holding him close with her legs, and he exploded inside her. His upper body collapsed on top of hers, his head resting on her chest.

  Her heart thundered against his ear. After a few seconds to catch his breath, he slipped free of her and lifted her in his arms. He carried her to the bedroom and lay her on the bed. He wasn’t sure how, but it looked different from when it had been his. She hadn’t painted, but the furniture was hers. And she’d put up little touches of herself. A few pictures. Candles. She noticed him watching.

  “You like it?”

  He nodded as he slipped off the condom. He threw it in the wastebasket and climbed into bed beside her. He wondered how long it would be before she let him move back in. He would take things as slow as she needed him to, as long as he knew she wasn’t going to run away from him again. Anything else they could handle. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

  “I love you,” he said.

  She laughed and tapped him on the hip with her finger. “Tell me again in the morning when it counts, Mr. Times Square.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be here, Ms. Marietta?”

  “Well, since this is my bed, yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ll be sticking around.”

  And she did.

  Loose Id Titles by Rachell Nichole

  An Affair Across Times Square

  Rachell Nichole

  Rachell has been writing since she found a computer in her house at the age of 9. From then on, long summer nights were used to create stories filled with people she’d never met and lives she’d never live. This is often how she spends her nights now, season be damned. She loves animals, travel, children, and family. But she prides herself on making others happy. She’s found a way to do this through weaving romances doused in erotic heat.

  Check out Rachell’s Web site and blog:

  http://www.rachellnichole.com

  http://www.divasofdesire.blogspot.com