Donut Overthink It

by Shantel Tessier

  His shoulders slump. “We got into a huge fight last night.”

  Here we go. “Over what?” I knew he had been lying. What surprises me is that she didn’t mention it this morning when I spoke to her.

  “Over us. Our life. Or lack thereof. I want all of her. I want her to have my last name.” My chest tightens at his words. “More of my children. She told me that wasn’t a possibility. And that I knew that from the beginning. I argued that things have changed now, and that we are adults,” he says frustrated. “She told me to get the hell out. When she woke this morning and found me in the spare room, she came in there, still pissed and asked me why I stayed, ready to throw my ass out on the front lawn. I told her that I’ve reminded her over and over that I’m not going anywhere. And that I was gonna continue to prove it.”

  “So you went and bought a ring today?” I ask, trying to figure out where this is coming from. I’m just not getting it. Evelyn is right; he knew she wasn’t able to give him more.

  “No. I bought this ring three years ago, Aiden.” I blow out a long breath. “I’m ready,” he says, pointing at his chest. “But I can’t do it without your help.”

  I’m not the kind of man who falls in love, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe in it. And I believe that everyone has a soul mate, and I have no doubt that Trent is Evelyn’s. And he’s such a great father to Olivia. They’re lucky girls to have him in their life.

  I nod. “I’ll talk to her.”

  “Really?” he asks excitedly. “When?”

  “Today,” I answer, already pulling out my phone.

  CHAPTER TWO

  HADLEY

  I LOOK UP AT THE CLOCK AND SEE it’s a quarter till four and I’m still not done with the papers Aiden gave me to do. But thankfully, for some reason, he hasn’t returned to the office today. He sent me a text when he got out of court and said he wouldn’t be in for the rest of the day. I took that as a sign God was looking out for me.

  I lean back in my chair and close my eyes, imagining Aiden and me having sex on the floor in front of a fireplace, like what happened in the book I read last night, but I just don’t see it. That’s not what comes to mind when I think of sex with him. I don’t see his large hands caressing me gently or his lips kissing my breasts tenderly. I see him bending me over his desk, one hand spanking my ass while the other grips my hair as he tells me what I did wrong.

  I clear my throat and try to ignore the throbbing between my legs. It’s been way too long.

  My cell dings as it sits on the corner of my desk, and I open it up to see it’s my date for tonight.

  Nate: I need your address.

  I send him a quick reply with my information, and I see the dots jumping around immediately.

  Nate: I’ll be there at eight.

  _____________

  Finally, I shut the lights off in my office at seven fifteen. Carrying all the files down the hallway, I make a stop at Mr. Kyle’s office and place them on his desk. He sometimes beats me here, when I’m late, and I learned real quick that he doesn’t like to hunt things down.

  I stand and face the windows that overlook Chicago, smiling at all the beautiful lights. This town really is gorgeous. I never thought I’d end up here, but I guess that saying is true—there’s no place like home.

  Yawning, I place my hand over my mouth and turn around, shutting his light off and walking toward the elevator. While waiting for it to arrive, I reach up and remove my ponytail. It’s been so tight all day it’s given me a headache. I readjust my glasses on my face as well. I need new contacts, but when I went to order them last week, they wouldn’t ship them until the doctor approved my prescription. Well, guess what? I refuse to ask the warden for time off, and I’ve been working through my lunch hour or just eating in my office. So I’ve had to go back to wearing my glasses when my eyes start to bother me. After staring at all those papers for over eight hours, my eyes got the best of me. And they don’t help much because my vision has obviously changed. I need new glasses too.

  Looking down at my heels, I hear the ding of the elevator, then the doors opens. Last week, my heel caught and sent me face first into the elevator. I’ve never been graceful, so when I fell flat on my stomach, all I could do was laugh. It wasn’t pretty, but thankfully, it was after everyone else had gone home, and I was alone. Perks of having to work later than anyone else.

  Once in, I turn to face the door as they slide closed and it starts to go up. “Shit!” I hiss. I hadn’t been paying attention to see if it was going down.

  “Bad day, Miss Burns?”

  I spin around to see him standing in the far corner. “Mr. Kyle,” I squeal in surprise, placing a hand on my chest as my heart races. My free hand reaches behind me until I feel the wall, and I sag against it. “Jesus! You scared me.”

  “Perhaps if you hadn’t been admiring your shoes, you would have noticed me,” he says flatly, then adds, “You should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

  I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off but close it when he arches a dark brow, almost daring me to say something bitchy to him. I know the bastard is just looking for a reason to fire me, but I refuse to give it to him. I deserve this job. After I graduated high school, I wanted out of this town and away from too many bad memories. I had just had enough. I went to school to be a paralegal, but they say life has a way of coming full circle. The small law firm I worked for in Pittsburgh shut their doors, and I had no choice but to come back home. I went to a temp agency, and when they said they had an opening at Kyle and Bakers, I jumped on it. I thought I would be working for his dad, Kenneth Kyle. But nope, God looked down at me and laughed, throwing me to Aiden Kyle—the wolf. And he has made every day here a living hell, but I refuse to show him any fear. Or weakness. I only have two more weeks, and he will evaluate my performance and decide to hire me or send me packing. I’m not sure which one will be best for my sanity just yet.

  “How was your day?” I decide to ask, filling the silence.

  “Well.” He answers with one word.

  An awkward silence falls between us once again in the small space, and I turn my back to him. I look down, allowing my hair to shield half of my face as I look at him in the mirrored door. He’s been running all day nonstop, doing God knows what, and still looks like a million dollars. He has his black suit jacket hanging over his right forearm. His dark purple tie hangs loosely around his neck. And the first two buttons of his crisp white shirt are also undone, showing off his perfectly sculptured chest. His dark hair is a disheveled mess.

  “Like what you see, Miss Burns?”

  My eyes shoot up to his in the mirrored door, and they’re staring into mine with a look of amusement. “No, uh …” The corner of his lips start to twitch, and I kick myself for thinking he wouldn’t see me. He sees everything. “Just wondering why you didn’t get off on our floor,” I decide to say, heart pounding.

  Just press me up against the wall and kiss me!

  Whoa! Where did that come from? This isn’t one of your dreams, Hadley. I tighten my legs as that throbbing returns.

  “Because I’m not going to the office,” he answers and then looks down at his phone in his hand as it dings.

  “Where are you going?” I ask and then clench my teeth. Shut up!

  “Curious about my whereabouts, Miss Burns?” he asks but doesn’t bother to look up at me or give me time to mumble a lame excuse. “That’s a new one for you, but if you must know, I live on the top floor.”

  I turn to fully face him, surprised by that. “I thought you had a house over in The Ridge?” It’s one of the richest neighborhoods in Chicago. He, Asher, and their father all have houses there.

  He sighs as if I’m bothering him. His phone goes off again, and I watch his eyes scan it before he moves to message back. It’s probably a woman already waiting in his apartment for him. The man sleeps with them all the time. Then he moves on to the next one, breaking heart after heart. That I do know. I’m the one who has
to deal with them when they call the office because he ignores their calls after they spread their legs for him. God, I would love to be one of those women. Just for one night …

  “I do,” he finally says, interrupting my thoughts, blue eyes back on mine. I clear my throat. “But when I work late, sometimes I don’t feel like driving across town to get home.”

  Then just like before, he looks back down at his phone when it dings again. The elevator finally comes to a stop, and the door slides open. Without another look or so much as a good night, he walks out. I move to the middle and watch the way his black slacks sit low on his narrow hips and pull against his ass. He works out—runs every morning before work. His body just as lean and strong. The man is so sexy …

  He comes to a quick stop in the middle of the hallway and turns to face me. I straighten my shoulders as my eyes go to his. “Did you finish those files?” he asks.

  I nod. “Yes, sir.”

  He places his phone in the pocket of his dress slacks and says, “Don’t be late tomorrow, Miss Burns,” then turns around and finishes walking toward the big black door at the end of the hall. He opens it up with a keypad and then walks in, letting it slam shut behind him as my elevator doors close as well.

  I fall back against the wall and let out a long sigh. My feet hurt. My eyes sting from being half blind, and my ass hurts from sitting on it all day. I just wanna go home and take a hot bubble bath and pass out.

  As the elevator doors opens to the lobby, my cell dings with a text.

  Nate: I can’t wait to see you!

  Shit! I forgot about my date.

  AIDEN

  I stand in my shower, both hands on the wall, my head under the sprayer. Fuck, she looked so hot in the elevator. Her hair down again and those glasses framing her blue eyes. I love it when she wears those.

  I was leaning against the back railing when the elevator opened on our floor, and I stood up straight when I saw her walking in, not paying one bit of attention. What if I had been a man who couldn’t keep my hands to myself? What if someone had attacked her? God, I swear that woman doesn’t think sometimes. She lives in her own world.

  I stood there and watched her stare at me like I wouldn’t notice. I had just done the same, but she didn’t catch me like I did her. She’s gorgeous. And I almost suffocated in that elevator from her intoxicating scent of cherries. I had to get it off me before I shoved her up against the wall and ripped that blouse off her right there. I wanted to wrap her long hair around my hands and yank so hard that it knocked her to her knees.

  I fist my hands and hit the wall as the water runs down over my head and then my back. Opening my eyes, I look down to see my cock hard. It’s been hard ever since she stepped into the elevator. Removing my right hand from the tile, I wrap it around the base of my dick and squeeze. I hiss in a breath, and then slowly loosen my grip and begin to pump it up and down. I let my head fall against the cold surface and spread my stance. Leaving my left hand on the wet wall, I imagine her down on her knees, looking up at me through those sexy glasses. Her blouse ripped open to expose her tits. My cock in her mouth as she moans around it.

  I pick up the pace, pounding my fist into the wall. I open my eyes and mouth, breathing heavily. Water runs down over my face and pools at my feet. Seconds later, her name comes out as a half moan, half sigh as I pump one last time before coming down the inside of the shower.

  “Fuck!” I hiss, exhaustion hitting me like a bag of bricks. I finish in the shower and dry off before getting ready. I have dinner plans tonight, and unlike my assistant, I refuse to be anything but early.

  CHAPTER THREE

  HADLEY

  I SHOULD HAVE DRIVEN MYSELF!

  This date must be one of the worst ones I’ve ever been on. I’m going to kill Andrea for talking me into joining this damn dating app. It’s supposed to be the newest matchmaker for people who don’t have time to find their one. It’s designed to cut out the middleman, but God, I’d rather be at home nose deep in a romance book dreaming about my dick of a boss than sitting here with this guy.

  “She told me that it was just a rash and not to worry.” He laughs at himself, scratching the red bumps on his forearm. “She knows everything.”

  The she that he is referring to would be his mother. He speaks of her as if she is Mother Teresa. “That’s good,” I say with a nod before taking a sip of my water.

  “So tell me about your mother.” The smile on his face is annoying.

  “She’s dead.”

  “Oh.” His face falls. “I’m … I’m so sorry.”

  “It was a long time ago,” I lie, waving him off.

  He looks down at his menu and stares at it for a few minutes before his eyes meet mine again, and I see unshed tears in them. “It’s okay. Really.”

  “No. I was just thinking …” He sniffs. “I don’t know what I would do without my mother …” He reaches out and grabs my hand across the table. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Thank you.” I remove my hand from his because, in all honesty, he’s kinda creeping me out. I’m starting to see why he needed an app to find a date. I think I’m meant to be single forever. “Not all mothers are like yours,” I add.

  He opens his mouth to say something when his phone rings. He has had it on the table the entire time. Mommy lights it up, and I release a sigh. Is this guy for real?

  “Momma?” he answers and sniffs again. “I was just thinking about you …”

  I tune him out in a daze, and my mind wanders to the one place it shouldn’t—my boss. I wonder who he was texting in the elevator earlier. Was it a woman? I laugh at myself. Of course, it was. A man like that has them lined up. When I take another sip of my water, the tip of an ice cube touches my lips, and it sends a chill down my spine at the thought of using it on him.

  “What are you doing?” he asks, voice rough.

  I straddle him as my hair falls over my right shoulder. He lies on the bed in that same hotel room where he takes me every time I close my eyes and dream of him.

  I lean over and grab the drink on the nightstand. Before I can sit back up, I feel his lips graze my boobs. “Oh, no,” I tell him. “Not yet.”

  He places his hands on my hips, his fingers digging into my skin, burning me. His eyes look up at me as a smile tugs his lips. “What are you gonna do with me, baby?”

  In answer, I take a drink of the cold water and capture a piece of ice in my mouth, then place the glass back where I got it. Then I bend down and kiss his chest. He hisses in a sharp breath as I run the ice cube along his skin.

  I wiggle my body downward until I’m lying flat between his legs—my chest now on the bed. He lifts his hips as his hands tangle in my hair. The ice cube melts quickly in my mouth, forcing me to hurry. I part my lips and water runs down the side of my mouth as they open to take him in …

  “Hadley …” He hisses in a breath. “Hadley …”

  “Hadley?”

  My name snaps me out of another daydream, and I see Nate staring at me with concern across from me. The phone now sitting back on the table. “I’m sorry?”

  “You okay?” He reaches for my hand, and I don’t pull away. “I was calling your name. Several times.”

  Of course, he was. Mr. Kyle has never called me by my first name.

  I run my free hand through my hair and try to ignore the tingle between my legs. “Will you excuse me for a second?” I ask, standing up and not waiting for a response. I need to go to the bathroom and cool off.

  AIDEN

  What are the odds she would be on a date in the same restaurant I was having dinner in? I’ve been sitting here for over fifteen fucking minutes watching her and this pathetic excuse for a man talk about God knows what.

  I see her get up from the table and walk toward the restrooms. And I fist my hands down by my side. I shouldn’t be mad that she is here on a date. I’m not the jealous kind. But the way she stared off into space as if she was imagining what they were going to be doing later pi
ssed me off.

  “Excuse me, gentlemen,” I say to my brother and father. “I’ll be right back.”

  They nod and go back to their conversation as I make my way to the restrooms. She comes out of the women’s, too busy typing on her phone to notice me. I should move. Step out of her way. Instead, I allow her to run right into me.

  She stumbles backward, and her phone falls to the floor by her heels. “I’m so sorry …” Her eyes widen as they meet mine. “Mr. Kyle. What are you …?”

  “Still not paying attention, Miss Burns? I thought you learned that lesson in the elevator earlier.” She lets out a huff but doesn’t say anything.

  I bend down to pick up her phone and see she sent a text to a woman named Andrea. It’s her best friend. I’ve heard her talk about her to Millie before.

  Help! Need you to call me with an emergency!

  “Date not going well?” I ask, holding it out to her with a smile.

  She snatches it out of my hands. “That is none of your business.”

  I step up to her, and her eyes widen in surprise as her pretty pink lips part, inhaling deeply. “Mr. Kyle …” She breathes my name, and it makes my cock harden at the thought of her saying that while lying on her back. I’ve tried for three months to keep my distance, and although I know this is a very bad idea, I can’t keep from doing it.

  Taking another step into her, she presses her back into the wall by the bathroom door. I lift my fisted hands, placing them on either side of her head. Instinct wants me to thread them into her hair, but I refrain.

  She swallows as her blue eyes search mine. “Let me give you a little advice.” When I lean down, placing my lips next to her ear, I can hear her sharp intake of breath. “If you’re not interested in fucking him …” She gasps. “Then walk away. Because that’s all us men think about.” I take a deep breath of her scent, and I can’t help the growl that forms deep in my chest.

  “Mr. Kyle …” She swallows. “That’s … inappropriate.”