by Zante, Lily
She moved her head from side to side, as if weighing up his question. “I never say no to a raise.” She smiled.
“We’ll talk about that at the start of the year in your next appraisal.”
Her smile widened. “Sign here, here, and here,” she said, passing over some paperwork to him. He scribbled his signature.
“I’ll set up a meeting with the owner.” The Canal Street site was highly sought after and had a number of interested parties after it. He and Marie had already scoped it out twice, and he’d taken his architect to get a feel for the work and cost involved in having a complete makeover.
“Do that.” Because he was ready to buy it now, before he got into a bidding war with some other savvy entrepreneur . With bars and clubs, location was everything, and he wanted his establishments to be in the best, upscale areas. Places where clients would think nothing of paying upwards of twenty dollars for a cocktail, and thousands to become exclusive members of his clubs.
When Marie left, he turned his attention to his computer but unable to concentrate and still irritated by his sister’s phone call, he reached for his cell phone. For the third time that week, he picked it up, and was about to call Kay. And for the third time, he hesitated. It was turning out to not be about the sex. They’d only done it the one time, yet he found himself embroiled in the mental games already, and this was not what he was used to. He was used to having things go his way. With most women, he had the strings, and he controlled when, and how often he would see them.
Not so with Kay. He wanted to see her, but he would have preferred it if she came to him and they had sex, instead of twisting his balls and leaving him high and dry. The fact that he spent more time than usual thinking about her unsettled him. More so because he’d been hoping to have forgotten her by now.
It had been two months since Tobias and Savannah’s wedding, and two months since he had fucked Kay. How was it that he was still sitting here thinking about her? What the hell was going on with him that she had managed to burrow under his skin like that?
Damn.
He’d give it until the wedding. Clearly, he needed to fuck her out of his system properly, and if he could get her to come to the wedding, it would be a fait accompli.
He would call her some other time. Amanda, and the wedding, and all that other stuff—there was too much debris swirling around in his brain. He needed his wits about him when talking to Kay. Now was not the time.
A few days later towards the end of the week, he noticed that a group of people from Kay’s workplace were in the bar. He recognized the slime ball, Geoffrey, immediately, but there was no sign of Kay.
Was she deliberately staying away from this place in order to avoid him, or was something wrong? Or maybe it was because of something else, and nothing to do with him?
He called her, and this time the phone rang for a while but then went straight to voicemail. It was the perfect excuse for him to find out what was going on. He grabbed his car keys and left, arriving at her apartment a short while later.
But he couldn’t get past the concierge, an old man with a huge gap between his front two teeth.
“But I’ve been here before,” he stated, when the old man refused to let him go straight up.
“Somebody else must have been on duty. I’ve never seen you before.”
Luke frowned. “Can you please just let her know I’m here.”
The concierge buzzed up to announce his arrival, then with the phone receiver still in his hands, told him, “She said she’s not expecting you.”
“It’s a surprise visit,” he said, gritted teeth. “Tell her I need to talk to her.”
The concierge repeated the sentence into the phone, then said, “She wants to know what it’s regarding.”
What the fuck? “Could I talk to her?” Luke demanded, holding his hand out to take the phone.
“It doesn’t sound to me as if she wants to talk to you,” the old man countered, refusing to hand the receiver over.
“She will once she sees me. What’s your name?” he demanded, so that he could report him to the maintenance manager seeing that the guy was doing his best to piss him off.
“Arnold. And your name, Sir?”
“Luke
“You must be new,” Arnold commented. He said ‘new’ like he was this season’s couture line.
“New?” Luke asked, confused. “Look, Arnold,” he said, drawing in a long breath and puffing out his chest. “I would like to talk to her,” he said, slowly. But the old man had put the receiver down. “She clearly doesn’t want to see you, Sir.”
His jaw clenched together and he walked away, then pulled out his cellphone and called her. She answered straightaway. “Don’t hang up, please,” he said, “Just hear me out.” He paused, then turned around to find the concierge giving him the beady eye from his desk. He turned his back to the man. “I was out of line last time, about dinner.”
There was silence at the other end. “I’m sorry,” he said, but still, silence. “Kay?” he barked, annoyed that he had apologized and she hadn’t even acknowledged it.
“Come up. I’ll tell Arnold to let you in.” She hung up.
He spun around to find the concierge still looking at him. He gave him his cheesiest smile. “She said I could go up.”
The old man barely moved a muscle. “It’s on the—”
“I know where it is,” he said, tightly as he walked towards the elevator. “I’ve been here before.”
The door to her apartment was ajar, and she was waiting in her living room, standing, with her arms folded, looking at if she was about to bite his head off.
“It would be easier breaking into the Federal Reserve than getting past that old man downstairs.”
“Arnold vets people carefully.”
“Does he have to vet many of them?” he asked, carefully.
She frowned. “Excuse me?”
Damn it, if he didn’t have to watch what he said. “He said I was ‘new’. What does that mean?”
“I have no idea.”
“How often do you—” He stopped, not wanting to dig a bigger hole for himself.
“How often do I what?”
“Nothing. Sorry. I didn’t come here to argue.”
“What did you come for?” she asked, her arms unfolding and her hands settling on her hips, as if she was gearing up for a fight. The blood in his veins drained south as he eyed her. Makeup sex was often better than normal sex. His mouth pressed together and he couldn’t figure out how to get from this, to the next stage.
“I was worried about you.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t heard from you.”
“You were worried about me?” She looked puzzled, and all he wanted to do was get this out of the way. It had been almost two months since that first time, and being here now, brought back potent memories. A throb of excitement surged through him.
“Yes, when I didn’t see you. You normally come to the bar once a week, and I haven’t seen you lately.”
“I’ve been busy,” she said.
“I thought it was because of that dinner saga.”
“That—” She looked away, shaking her head. “Was weird, yes.”
“I told you—”
“Yes, but it’s still weird. You… have…issues…clearly.” She exhaled loudly. “I had to say it. There,” she gesticulated with her arms, flailing them in mid-air. “I feel better now that I’ve said it.”
“Issues?” He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets. “I don’t have any issues. I just want an easy life.”
She stared at him and shrugged. She swallowed. “I found it weird, okay? I don’t know what I’m letting myself in for, with you, with this.”
“I thought I’d made it pretty obvious, what I will and won’t allow,” he replied, unsettled by her words. She was changing her mind, and having second thoughts about their arrangement—it was exactly what he’d predicted. Kay, despite what she’d sai
d, about being able to handle it, couldn’t.
At least this was one way of getting her out of his system. It wouldn’t take him long to find someone else. It probably wouldn’t take her long either.
“You haven’t been to the bar lately.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, obviously not liking his subtle accusation. “Are you keeping tabs on me?”
“No.” She was running rings around him, and it wasn’t something he was used to. “Your work people were there, including that arsehole, Geoffrey. I haven’t seen you for a while, and you didn’t answer my calls. I thought something might be wrong.”
“So you came to make sure I was okay?” The expression on her face softened.
“I wondered what you were up to? Wondered why you were lying low and whether you were avoiding me.”
“I’ve been busy at work.”
“Busy, huh?” She was fine, it was obvious.
“Busier than usual.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder, then folded her arms again, unknowingly diverting his attention to her ample breasts.
“Did you want to go to dinner?”
“Dinner?” Her brows pushed together as if he’d said something utterly ridiculous. “You don't do dinner. You have rules, remember?”
“It’s only dinner, Kay. Just fucking dinner.”
“That’s right. That’s all it ever was. You’re the one who made such a big deal about it.”
He looked stupid, especially when she put it like that. “Well, I’m asking you now.” He walked towards her, and noticed that she pressed her lips together, as if bracing herself, or getting ready.
“You’re asking me about dinner now? Is that why you came over?”
“I came over because …” He missed her. He missed the sex, he told himself. It was just the sex. “I haven’t seen you, and it doesn’t feel as if we’re …together.”
“Together?” she snorted. “You’re not talking about a relationship, are you? You don’t do relationships, remember?”
“We’re doing something similar,” he stated, letting his gaze run up and down her length. “That is, if you still want in. I owe you a couple of orgasms,” he said, “If you still want them.”
She bit her lower lip. “Think you can deliver this time?”
“I’ve never had a problem before. I was…overwhelmed by you that last time.” He wanted to fuck her in at least three different positions before he left here, to make up for the downtime he’d suffered, at the hands of her teasing.
“Overwhelmed?” she said, her voice turning softer, more seductive. “Did you mean to compliment me?”
“Take it any which way you want.”
He might not have wanted commitment, or long-term emotional baggage, but he wanted her now, even if in the depths of his brain, in the haziness and fog regarding his ideas about connecting to another person, the lines were already blurring. His cock twitched at the sight of her, and of what he wanted to do to her. And Xavier’s subtle interest in Kay reminded him he needed to ask her something. It also reminded him that he needed to cleanse Xavier out of her system, in case she might have been interested in him.
“Xavier mentioned he saw you,” he said, watching her reaction.
“I ran into him recently.”
“Yeah? What do you think of him?”
She frowned. “Why?”
“No reason. Just that he wondered why you hadn’t called him.”
She snorted in disbelief. “I’m never going to call that douchebag.”
“Why’s he expect you to?”
“I have no idea!” She folded her arms. “We… shared a moment.”
He angled his head. “A moment?”
“We got talking when he did those magic tricks on the island.”
He nodded, remembering. “And?”
“And we …” She struggled to phrase it. “We got talking, and made out.”
“Made out,” he said, nodding.
“Kissed.” She shrugged. “And then we got interrupted, and he forgot me after that.”
“That was all? Nothing else happened?”
She looked at him closely. “What did he say happened?”
“Nothing. He didn’t say anything happened.” But he was glad to hear her confirmation.
“If I didn’t know you any better, I’d think you were jealous.”
“Me? Jealous?” Right now he wanted to bury himself balls-deep inside her so that she knew that this arrangement was between them only. His need to possess her was greater now, than his desire to question her.
“The way you’re questioning me, yes.”
He walked towards her slowly. “I don’t expect you to see anyone else while we’re still seeing one another.”
“We’re seeing each other?” she exclaimed, her tone mocking.
“We’re not not seeing one another.”
“What the hell does that mean?” she retorted. “Double negatives confuse me. Say what you mean.”
They had an agreement, even though nothing had been signed, or set in stone. It had been verbal, an agreement of sorts and neither one of them could back out without telling the other.
Seeing her, barefoot, in her smart work skirt and silk blouse, sent a signal straight to his manhood, and he wondered how long it would take before he could get her panties to fall around her feet. He wanted her, and he wanted her right now—and not for a pity-fuck, like last time. This was going to be a claim-me, territorial fuck.
He missed fucking her and he couldn’t wait any longer. Hooking his arm around her waist he tugged her closer to him, then slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her. She didn’t move at first, didn’t part her lips, nor reach for him with her arms, but slowly, as he worked his lips over hers, and his other hand moved to cup her neck, her defenses tumbled. Her mouth yielded to his, and she parted her lips, moaning as the kiss deepened. She had missed him, despite her stubbornness to admit it.
And, god, she felt good.
His heated body pressed against hers and he hardened, making her giggle as she moved her mouth away. Her hands moved down, stroking him over the fabric of his pants, rubbing him gently and making him shudder.
“Shall we get dinner first?” he asked, staring down into her face, his gaze remaining on her moist, red lips.
“You want sex, and you’re trying to bribe me by suggesting dinner?”
“I won’t lie. I’m horny as hell, but I accept that I was out of line the last time.”
He lifted his eyes to meet hers and their gazes locked. “You admit it then?” she asked.
He blinked, in answer.
“You were lucky to catch me home this early today. I haven’t been getting home until after eleven.”
“Then we should make the most of you being home early.”
“We should, because this—” She rubbed him harder, “won’t wait.”
He growled in agreement.
“And don’t treat me like a piece of meat, this time.”
He looked at her, puzzled, and then he understood. That first time, he hadn’t been the best lover. “I won’t.”
She rested her hand on his chest. “I know what this is, Luke, and I’m not expecting anything.”
“Good,” he murmured, leaning close as he took her earlobe between his finger and thumb and pinched it gently. He dropped a small, wet kiss along her neck.
She turned her head towards him, closing off his access to her neck and ear. She was soft against him, and with that silky blouse, he couldn’t help but slide his hands over her body.
“Not on the kitchen table this time,” she cautioned.
He couldn’t help by smile at the memory, his boxer briefs were so tight now that he had to get out of them fast.
“We can do it wherever you want.”
It was rare to find a woman who was practical, and didn’t need a shitload of romancing before getting down to business. A woman who had needs to be met and was as eager as him to get down to it. They kissed again,
the soft, mewling sounds as she moaned into his mouth arousing him further.
How much he had missed this woman. It was going to take some focus, keeping it like this, purely sex and nothing more. But, Jesus, she understood him in a way he hadn’t been understood for a long time, and he liked that.
She didn’t make him feel bad, because she didn’t expect more than this.
It was the perfect hookup.
Chapter 17
She could barely breathe. Her heart lurched inside her chest, and her knees buckled. He only had to kiss her, and touch her, and she would lose her mind.
Silly, really, that her reaction was something a teenager might have, not a grown woman who had had many lovers.
But Luke Hunter had this effect on her, and all she could think of was getting naked and making love all night long. He would call it something else, but she knew what it really was. After all, he’d come back to her, hadn’t he?
She’d led him to her bedroom, wanting the comfort of the bed this time. And she’d removed his jacket, he had allowed that, but when she reached for the buttons to his pants, he gently pushed her onto the bed. He tried to hitch up her skirt as she lay there, but the damn thing was too tight and didn’t ride up easily.
“It’s a pencil skirt,” she explained, getting up as he rolled over to the side. The mechanics and logistics of what they were doing suddenly seemed stilted. She stood up and quickly unzipped her skirt, letting it fall to the floor, then turned around to see him lying on the bed, looking up at her.
“That’s better,” she said, unsure of whether to join him again.
“It’s definitely better,” he agreed, his eyes roaming over her body approvingly. He was still fully dressed, looking perfectly normal except for that huge tented package in his pants. Her heart pounded, and just when she thought the intimacy of a few moments ago had vanished, he lurched forward, sitting up, his hands encircling her wrists as he pulled her towards him.
Burying his face between her legs, he inhaled her scent, and did no more than that. She let out a low moan, anticipating his next move, needing him to touch her, and take her and give her what he had promised. Widening her stance, she raked her fingers through his hair, grabbing a handful of his silky locks as blood coursed through her fully aroused body. His hands slid to either side of her hips, his fingers hooking into the waistband of her panties. “You don’t need these,” he murmured, making her gasp when he peeled her panties down, all the way to her ankles.