“You did great,” I said to Preston as we left the building and headed back towards the hotel.
“You think so?” he asked. In a rare moment of vulnerability, Preston Woodfield didn’t appear to be 100% full of himself.
“Absolutely,” I said. “I enjoyed watching you in your element.”
Preston hailed a cab amongst the hustle and bustle of downtown Seattle, and we headed back to the hotel. We had one night to kick back and relax before our flight left the next morning.
“So what do you want to do tonight?” he asked. “We can do anything you want.”
In a perfect world, the trip would’ve been a sweet little romantic get away. Instead it was all business and no pleasure, but I couldn’t complain. It was exactly the way I’d told him I wanted things to be between us. He was simply respecting my wishes. Ironically, the less he came onto me, the more I wanted him, and the feeling was only intensifying with every day that passed as my last day with the firm inched nearer.
***
“You ready?” Preston said as he rapped on my hotel door that evening. He’d made dinner reservations for us at a restaurant at the top of the Space Needle.
I spritzed on one final spray of my gardenia perfume, smoothed my hair, and flung my purse over my shoulder before meeting him in the hallway. As weird as it was, I felt like we were going out on a date, and a teeny, tiny part of me hoped he’d kiss me that night.
“Have you eaten here before?” I asked as we rode the elevator down to the hotel lobby.
“Never,” he said. “But it seemed like something everyone should do at least once in their lives. When in Rome, right?”
Preston had been in a great mood ever since our pitch earlier that day. Things were going well, and I was starting to grow fond of the Preston that existed outside of the office. I almost hated for our little trip to end.
We finished our sweet little dinner at Sky City, mostly talking about work things and keeping the conversation light, though the tension between us was so ripe there was no denying it.
“Observation deck?” Preston asked as we left the restaurant. “Care for one more drink before we head back to the hotel?”
We’d shared a bottle of red wine over dinner, his idea, and I was already feeling a little uninhibited, but since he was buying, I couldn’t say no. “Sure.”
We headed to the observation deck at the top of the Space Needle and Preston grabbed us some cocktails from the bar. Overlooking the entire city of Seattle, we were practically at the top of the world.
As we stood, in silence, looking down upon the city lights that were beginning to fill the nighttime sky, Preston was so close to me I could feel his warm breath on my neck and the musky scent of his cologne filled my lungs. I closed my eyes, missing deeply brief period of time when we were irrationally and confusingly passionate about each other. It was over before it had even begun, but those feelings never left. At least not for me.
“I wanted to ask you something tonight,” Preston said after several long moments of silence.
“What’s that?” I asked as I spun around to face him. For the first time ever, he looked slightly nervous.
“I want to ask you to stay,” he said. “Once your internship is over. I want you on my team.”
“Oh,” I said, trying to disguise the disappointment in my voice. I had secretly hoped he was going to confess that his feelings for me had never changed. “I’ll…have to think about that.”
“I can take care of you,” he said.
“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” I scoffed. “But thanks.”
“I want to take care of you,” he said. “If you won’t work for me, at least be with me.”
“Be with you?” I echoed.
“In just a few weeks, you’ll head back to Georgia,” he said. “I’m not ready to let you go.”
“Preston,” I said, noticing his eyes focused on my lips. It was almost as if we were being drawn closer to one another without even trying. “We tried this once, remember?”
“I screwed it up,” he said. “I know that. I want to try to make it right. I’ve never met anyone like you before, Mirabelle.”
“You just want me because you can’t have me,” I replied, although it wasn’t entirely true. He could have me. I just wanted him to show me how bad he wanted me. My mother always told me people never appreciated things if they never had to work hard for them.
“I want you because you’re beautiful, Miri,” he said. “Inside and out. And you’re smart. God, are you smart. And you’re not afraid to put me in my place. You’re genuine, thoughtful…”
His voice trailed as his words became background noise to the thoughts circling around in my head. For Preston Woodfield to dole out that many compliments in one sitting was extremely rare.
“Stop,” I said, cutting him off. “If you want to be with me, you have to promise to let me in.”
“Let you in?” he asked.
“You’re a closed book,” I said. “I know nothing about you except that you’re extremely driven and impossibly handsome.”
“True,” he said with a devilish smirk. “We do need to get to know each other a little better.”
“This can’t just be a physical thing,” I said as I inched closer into his space. He was so damn irresistible. “It has to be deeper than that.”
“Anything you want,” he said, our lips mere centimeters apart.
“No games, no assumptions, no mysteries,” I said. “Just us.”
With that, Preston’s lips were pressed against mine, and I melted into his arms in an instant.
TWENTY-FOUR
The day had finally come. As I sat in my cap and gown, waiting for the university president to call my name so I could walk across the stage and get my diploma, the hot Georgia sun beat down and warmed my face. A cool breeze ruffled the long strands of hair that spilled down my shoulders. It was a perfect day. My sister and niece were sitting with my parents. My best friends were scattered throughout the student body, also awaiting their diplomas, and the weather couldn’t have been more gorgeous for a Saturday in May. But there was one thing missing: Preston.
That night in Seattle back in April, when Preston and I decided we couldn’t fight our chemistry any longer, was nothing short of magical. I was worried when we got back to Manhattan and back to the daily grind that things would change. Things changed all right, but they changed for the better.
Preston became softer – at least towards me. He’d sit back in meetings and let me take the reins. He’d get my coffee in the morning. And once a week, he’d send me fresh flowers, usually something seasonal like daffodils or tulips.
I told him I wanted to take thing slow. The last thing I wanted was for us to crash and burn like we’d done the first time. The chemistry between us was crazy, and sometimes scary, and I was still trying to navigate the treacherous waters of life as a new adult.
Preston wanted to take care of me. He wanted to take me under his wing and show me the world. Part of me wondered if he was making up for never being the protective big brother he should’ve been when he had the chance. I wanted to see and do everything for myself though. Maybe I was naïve and stubborn and overly independent, but that’s who I was. I wasn’t going to change, and I made it perfectly clear to him.
My row began to stand and then march towards the podium.
“Mirabelle Elizabeth Baker,” the president called. My heart raced as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma. I shook his hand with the biggest smile on my face and threw my arm up in the air as my family and friends cheered for me.
As the ceremony wrapped up, I went to find my mom and dad. The thick throngs of attendees made it rather difficult to find them, so I spent a good ten minutes wandering the grounds until finally I spotted my niece in her little pink tutu and swooped her up.
“Look who it is!” Madison said with a big smile. “Congrats, sis!”
“There’s our graduate!” my mom said, c
amera in hand. My dad stood behind her, quiet and proud, beaming ear to ear.
“I’m so glad it’s over with!” I sighed, scratching my head under the hot cap. “I can’t wait to take this stuff off.”
“We have a little surprise for you,” Madison said with a mischievous smirk.
“What?” I asked, hesitant.
My family took a step back and away from one another only to reveal the most beautiful thing I’d seen in a long time: Preston Woodfield.
My family ended up taking the news better than I thought, but they knew me well. They knew I always got what I wanted and I never let the opinions of others sway my decisions. They balked at first, but once the initial shock wore off, they backed down and accepted it, welcoming him in like the family he used to be.
He stood there with his dark hair, groomed five o’clock shadow, and blue eyes piercing into mine. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks, and he’d told me he couldn’t attend my graduation due to a work trip he couldn’t reschedule.
“Preston,” I said, his name falling out of my mouth so effortlessly. I stepped towards him and took his hand as he leaned down and kissed my lips. “I didn’t think you were going to be here.”
“I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he said, eyes crinkling.
“I thought you had a work trip?” I said, swatting his chest with my hand.
He smiled, knowingly, “I figured out a way.”
***
Later that night, with Preston in town for a couple days, we decided to go out for drinks at a local martini lounge to celebrate.
“Two weeks was too weeks too long,” Preston said as he sipped his dirty martini. “I was counting down the days, Mirabelle.”
“Me too,” I smiled. We’d texted nonstop since I left the city, and we talked on the phone every night before bed, but it wasn’t the same as seeing each other every day. “That was a long two weeks.”
“So when are you coming back?” he asked. “Your office is waiting.”
The color drained from my face. I wasn’t ready to have that discussion yet, and I certainly wasn’t expecting him to bring it up so soon. I was coming back to Manhattan, sure, but I wasn’t going to work for him. I hadn’t had the heart to tell him that yet.
“Look who it is,” a man’s voice said from behind me. I spun around, drink in hand, only to be faced with my high school ex-boyfriend, Andrew. “Mirabelle Baker.”
He bit his lower lip and looked me up and down like I was on display only for him. A brown bottle of beer rested in his left hand as his eyes traveled over to Preston. I’d admit, Preston looked pretty out of place next to me, several years my senior. He didn’t care though, and nothing seemed to faze him. He just wanted to be with me.
“I hear you’re dating your stepbrother now, Mirabelle,” Andrew said with a menacing laugh as he adjusted his pants and puffed out his chest. Clearly he was doing the dance of an intimidated man.
“Excuse me,” I said, gently pushing my long, blonde hair over my shoulder. “That’s not true.”
“I knew you was a lot of things Miri, but I never thought you’d fuck your own brother,” he said, growing more and more agitated by the second.
I wanted to throw my drink in his face. I wanted to remind him that he cheated on me. He ditched my ass the second life got real and that was several years ago.
“What do you want, Andrew?” I asked, annoyed. I placed my hand on my hip and Preston stood up from his bar stool, ready to defend me if needed.
“Why don’t you just leave,” Preston said, his voice firm and his eyes meaning business. “You’re bothering her.”
“Oh, yeah?” Andrew said, his eyes meeting Preston’s, only Preston had a good five inches of height on Andrew’s short ass. “What’re you going to do about it, huh?”
Andrew beat on his chest before backing down a bit.
“You have no business talking to me,” I said to him. “And you know damn well why.”
Andrew seemed to grow agitated once again. “Oh, don’t you dare put that on me.”
“Excuse me,” Preston’s voice boomed. “Do not speak to her that way.”
“Miri, you know you miss this,” Andrew said pointing to his junk. “You were still calling me six months ago trying to hook up when you were home on Christmas break.”
Before I had a chance to say anything, Preston grabbed my arm and led me away.
“Where the fuck you goin’?” Andrew called out. He was smashed beyond smashed.
“We’re leaving,” Preston said as we headed out to the parking lot to his rental car. “You don’t need to subject yourself to that nonsense.”
I climbed into the passenger seat of his car, half-expecting Andrew to run out of the club and chase after us. Andrew was a pathetic excuse of a man, but he was very jealous and his temper always got the best of him. He was used to always getting what he wanted, and given our history, it probably killed him to see me happy and moving on, like we never were.
“So, where to now?” I asked, checking the time on my phone. It was barely eight-thirty.
“My hotel?” he asked, with a wink and a smirk. “You okay with that?”
I reached over and grabbed his hand. We hadn’t been intimate since that night in Seattle, when we just had to get it out of our systems. I told him I wanted to take things slow, and Preston, ever the gentleman, abided by my little stipulation. I knew it killed him though. I saw the little glances he’d sneak here or there and the way he’d look at me those nights we worked late in the office. His kisses had a sort of fire and intensity behind them, and I knew he was bottling up his urges for the sake of trying to make us work.
It had been a month, and I was confident that Preston was invested in this sweet, little thing we had going. I was ready to give myself to him once again.
He pulled into the hotel parking lot and escorted me inside, to his room. My heart pounded with every step and as the door lock to his room beeped, I knew what was about to go down the second we stepped inside his room.
I sat my purse down on a nearby dresser and stood, waiting for him to make a move.
Without saying a word, he walked towards me, leaned in, and placed a single kiss on my mouth. “I’ve been dying to do that ever since I first laid eyes on you earlier today.”
Shivers ran through my body.
“You’re so fucking sexy, Miri,” he continued. “It’s been so hard not touching you this past month.”
I stared up at him with big doe eyes, as if to beg for more. I loved that this older, successful, handsome man thought I was pretty, and I loved that it took every ounce of his being to control his urges to pounce on me.
He began unbuttoning his shirt and then placed his hands on my hips and pulled me closer. He leaned down and kissed me again, only this time he slid his tongue inside my mouth. I kissed him back and moved my arms up around his broad shoulders. I ran my fingers through his short, dark hair as our hips pressed against each other.
He reached a hand up and slowly pulled my blouse up and slipped it off my shoulders. I was wearing my leggings and a lacy demi cup bra. I was beginning to feel a little self-conscious at the thought of my curvy stomach being exposed. Working full-time all semester had caused me to gain a few pounds. I certainly didn’t have washboard abs, but he didn’t seem to mind. He just covered my bare shoulders with a million tiny kisses which tickled and titillated at the same time.
I slipped my bra straps off my shoulders and down past my breasts, which were now fully revealed. My breasts were 36Cs, yet taut and perky.
“Oh, God,” he said as they came into sight. “Beautiful. Just beautiful. I’ve missed these.”
He cupped each of them in his hand and rubbed his palms over my pointed nipples.
“You like them, Preston?” I asked coyly.
“Yes,” he hissed. “I want to see the rest of you. Your body is incredible. Your curves are so perfect. So womanly.”
I winked and stood up on my tip toes to give him ano
ther kiss. I quickly removed the rest of my clothes and leaned back on the king sized bed, fully exposed.
Preston stopped dead in his tracks as soon as he saw me sprawled back on the bed, ready for the taking. A devilish smile spread across his face as he plotted his moves and began loosening his tie and walked towards me. He looked like he was about to pounce on me at any second.
He threw his tie to the side and slipped off his shirt to reveal a smooth, ripped chest. He unbuckled his belt, dropped his pants, climbed onto the desk and laid on top of me. His thick, ripped build covered my entire body. I felt safe, protected, and extremely turned on. I could feel my pussy growing wetter and wetter with each second. Our naked bodies were pressed together, and I knew fun things were in store.
He kissed my mouth again, then worked his way down my neck, then to my chest, then sucked on my nipples before traveling south to my pussy. He knelt at the foot of the bed with his head of full dark hair buried deep between my widespread legs. I felt the wetness of his strong tongue slipping up and down through my slit. His tongue swirled around my clit before returning to broad strokes between my pussy lips. He sucked on my clit which was one of the most intense, exhilarating feelings I’d ever had down there.
My hips began thrusting from the pressure building up below. He placed his hands on my hips to hold me down and stuck his tongue deep inside my pussy hole.
“Ah, ah,” I yelled out. “Oh, yeah!”
Preston positioned himself at the edge of the desk between my legs and slid his cock between my American thighs and rested it right at my pussy.
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