What to Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection (WTRAFSOG Book 3)

by Lauren Hawkeye

  I tried to focus on what he was saying because he really did have a lot of great ideas. As I glanced at the paper that he was holding, I noticed a bulge in his pants out of the corner of my eye. I was suddenly curious about his package. Was he as turned on as I was in that moment? Or was he just that big? I forced myself to refocus on the paperwork in front of us, but with him sitting in my living room, it wasn’t easy.

  We took a break from work when the food came. I hoped that he didn’t want to leave right after we were done eating, so I brought our work back up. We had a good plan laid out to be sure that the report would be done by the end of the week, and it also meant that he and I would be working closely together for the rest of the week. I didn’t mind that one little bit.

  I offered him a drink after we had finished our work, and he accepted. “Is a glass of wine okay?” I asked, thinking slyly that if I could get him liquored up, maybe I could take advantage of him.

  “Sounds great,” he replied.

  I brought two glasses of white wine into the living room and turned on the radio. I tuned into the soft rock station that always played love songs. The mood was absolutely perfect.

  “To this market analysis,” I said, laughing and holding up my glass.

  He clinked my glass with his. “No,” he replied. “To you. You have a lot of amazing ideas in that gorgeous head of yours,” he said. I blushed as we each took a sip of our wine.

  A million thoughts ran through my head. Should I tell him that I am in love with him? He called me gorgeous! Is this strictly a work relationship? Gorgeous! Does he want me as much as I want him? My palms are sweating! He did, as Travis pointed out, find me on New Year’s Eve. What did that mean? I decided to play it cool and see if he made a move.

  We chatted about safe topics like work while we drank our first glass of wine, and soon I was pouring us each a second. Normally it took three or four glasses before I started to feel tipsy, but with Nick there, I felt drunk already. I don’t know if I was drunk on Nick or if I was just losing my toleration to wine, but I really felt giddy.

  He finished his second glass of wine and set the empty glass down on the table, and then he took my hand in his. I felt a frisson of energy when his hand touched mine. “Shall we finish the dance that was cut short at the Christmas party?” he asked.

  I willingly accepted his offer, never dreaming even in my wildest dream that Nicholas Matthews would ask me to dance with him in my apartment. I thought that I was going to be the one making the move on him! My dream was coming true, as was my resolution.

  He pulled me up and into his arms as a slow song talking about secrets played. I felt his hard pectoral muscles against my chest, his washboard stomach against me. I could only imagine what he looked like under that shirt. I so desperately wanted to see, to touch, to kiss.

  I rested my head against his shoulder, breathing him in. I was lost in his wonderful aroma, his woodsy cologne mixed with his Nick scent. I started to feel dizzy, as if the world was slipping out from under my feet. Again I noticed the heat, the sparks flying between us. We were so close that we were almost in a hug. In a way, I wanted to be apart so that I could stare into those eyes again, to read his thoughts, to see if he wanted me as much as I wanted him.

  I had imagined how wonderful it would feel to be so close to him a million times. But in all of those wonderful daydreams that I had about Nick, none of them measured up to how fantastic it actually was. He was so absolutely beautiful, so perfect, so smart and funny and masculine. I felt so comfortable with him that I closed my eyes as we swayed and I imagined how it would feel to be with him, body and soul. Suddenly, he pulled away a little bit.

  I felt sheepish as he looked into my eyes, and I wondered if he could read what I was thinking. What if he didn’t feel the same way at all?

  He whispered, “Julianne, are you okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied, feeling like my loud voice belonged to someone else. He pulled me close again. I could feel his warm breath against the top of my head as we danced.

  “You are so incredibly beautiful,” he whispered into my hair.

  “What?” I asked, my voice cracking like a teenage boy going through puberty, wanting to be sure that I heard him correctly. I pulled back slightly to look him in the eyes.

  “You’re beautiful. I’ve thought so since the first time I saw you in that conference room a year ago,” he said, as he pulled me close once again. The stubble from his five o’clock shadow tickled against my skin as his chin brushed my cheek.

  I had no words. I couldn’t handle thinking clearly when he was so close to me and so sexy and saying things like that to me.

  “I know that it’s wrong for us to be together because I’m your boss, but Julianne, I just can’t hold back anymore. Being next to you makes it impossible for me to think straight. I can’t hide from this anymore, as much as I try to deny that I have feelings for you,” he said.

  For possibly the first time in my life, I was speechless. I couldn’t believe that he was saying the one thing I had longed to hear for a year.

  “Every time I see you walking around the office, I want to take you into my arms, like this, and feel your body against mine,” he whispered, his chin brushing my cheek again.

  Nothing could have prepared me for this moment. I felt a million emotions all at once: nervous, excited, anxious, and overjoyed; but the prevailing feeling was lust. I wanted to express to him the torch that I had been carrying for him since the first day I had laid eyes on him. I wanted someone to pinch me to make sure that this was really happening. And most of all, I wanted him to kiss me.

  “I feel the same way about you,” I finally said, gazing boldly into his eyes.

  His eyes burned into mine, and everything in the room went away. There was no music, no report, no floor under my feet. Nothing was in that room except for Nick and me.

  He tucked my hair behind my ear and then ran his knuckles against my cheek, his eyes never leaving mine. And then, finally, he lowered his head to mine, slowly, the anticipation absolutely killing me.

  He brushed his lips once against mine, much like he had on New Year’s Eve, and desire coursed through my veins as tingles raced up and down my spine. My heart started beating faster and desire pooled hot and low in my belly. I felt dizzy. He broke away for just an instant to look into my eyes, as if to be sure that I wanted this as much as he did. When he saw his feelings returned, when he saw the lust in my eyes, he brought his mouth back to mine, and this time, he really kissed me.

  I tightened my arms around his neck as I felt his tongue at the part of my lips and I opened my mouth to his. I ran my fingers through his beautiful hair, just like I had wanted to do since the day I had first met him, finding it soft and silky. His strong, masculine hands gripped my hips as our tongues met, tentatively at first and turning into a sensual and explosive dance.

  We kissed for an eternity, or five seconds, or ten minutes, in that same place, his hands gripping me against him. I had kissed some men in my life, but I had never had a kiss as hot and passionate as Nick’s.

  I could kiss him forever.

  His desire for me was evident as his lips claimed mine, his tongue slow and sexy even as it was hot and aggressive. I could feel his arousal against my hip, and I knew that my own panties were moist from his kisses and his touch and his scent. Hell, my panties were moist the second he knocked on my door earlier that evening. I felt a throbbing sensation begin down low, and I suddenly felt desperate for him.

  As much as I wanted him in my bed, I didn’t want to rush into something that could potentially lower his opinion of me. I wanted this to turn into something long-term, and rushing into bed wouldn’t be the smartest option. I was getting way ahead of myself, but he was here with me and kissing me, and I was thrilled beyond words that something was finally happening with us. Yet the logical side of me sparkled through the lust.

  Nick pulled back and pecked my lips once more. He sighed deeply. “We s
hould stop,” he said huskily, lust heavy in his eyes. It was like he could read my mind and wanted exactly the same things as me, and I fell even harder for him in that moment.

  I nodded, and I pecked his lips again.

  “I want to see you again, outside of the office,” he said against my lips.

  “I would love that,” I said, kissing him again. Our kiss turned hot again, and damn if I had the self control to stop from taking it further. I moaned into him and I felt him grow even harder against me. His tongue moved more aggressively against mine, as if my moan was an invitation to move things further. His hand started moving up my side to my ribcage, and he was literally centimeters away from my breast when just then, of all times, my damn cell phone rang. I didn’t make a move to answer it. Nick broke away from me, muttering a curse, and spotted my cell on the end table next to the loveseat and reached over for it. He handed it to me. I would’ve left it ringing all night, but since he handed it to me, I felt obligated to answer it.

  “Hello,” I answered, trying not to sound too annoyed after reading the screen.

  “Jules, it’s Trav,” the familiar voice of my best friend rang out. “I need to talk to you. Now. Want to do dinner?”

  “I already ate. Maybe tomorrow?” I asked, silently praying that would be okay.

  “Well, tonight would be better, even if we don’t eat. I really need to talk to you,” Trav said.

  “It can’t wait until tomorrow?” I asked.

  “No. I need to see you tonight.”

  “Fine,” I sighed, extremely irritated. “When are you coming?”

  “Now. Bye,” he said, as we both hung up.

  “That was the guy that I was with at the Christmas party. He needs to talk to me. But it’s no big deal. You don’t have to go,” I said with a smile. I added, “And don’t worry. There’s nothing between us. He’s my best friend, nothing more.”

  “I’ll stay until he comes, then I’ll leave. I don’t want to impose on you two,” Nick said.

  “Not at all. Stay,” I said, kissing him playfully. “Maybe whatever girl crisis he’s having can be solved by both of us.”

  “You are a hard girl to say no to,” he replied, pulling me against him in a tight hug. I could have stayed there forever. “Should we clean up our mess?” he asked, pointing his chin toward my coffee table, where our paperwork was strewn all over. The buzzer sounded just as I finished putting the papers in my work bag. I thought I had a little more time, but Trav made it over in record time, so I was quite annoyed when I had to buzz him up.

  Nick stood up as I waited by the door. He came over by me and took me in his arms. “I had a great time with you tonight, Julianne. I live out in Fountain Hills, and I’ve got a thirty minute drive ahead of me, so I’m going to take off.”

  Damn, I thought. “I had a wonderful time, too.”

  He kissed me in that leisurely, sensual way of his again, his tongue dancing slowly against mine, sending tingles from deep in the pit of my stomach through my chest, just as I heard a knock on the door to interrupt us – again.

  “I’ll see you in the morning,” I said, disappointed that he was leaving.

  “I’m looking forward to it, Julianne,” he said, brushing my lips one last time with his, and then I opened the door to Travis.

  “Trav, this is Nick. He was just helping me with a work project,” I said, as Travis shook Nick’s hand, my past meeting my – hopefully – future.

  “I was just leaving. Nice to meet you, Travis. See you tomorrow, Julianne. Great work on that market analysis,” Nick said. He winked at me, and then he was gone. My hands tingled at the thought of what went on between us that night and what could potentially happen in the future between us. And suddenly I felt a chill in his absence. His warmth was gone, but my best friend was here, needing to talk to me. So I had to focus.

  Chapter Five

  “What was that all about?” Travis asked as I closed the door.

  All I had to do was smile and Travis knew.

  “Did anything happen here?” he asked casually.

  “Not really, but it could have if you hadn’t called when you did,” I replied.

  “I’m shocked! You aren’t that kind of girl,” he joked.

  “Whatever. What do you want?”

  “Well, um, Brooke and I broke up.”

  “Oh, Trav, I’m sorry,” I said, hugging him. “Why? What happened?”

  “Actually, I dumped her,” he answered.

  “What? Why? I thought you liked her.”

  “Well, Brooke was awesome, beautiful, sweet and all that, but I just wasn’t into her, and it wasn’t fair for me to stay in a relationship that I wasn’t into. I feel really bad, though. I think that I broke her heart. She didn’t see it coming.”

  His big brown eyes looked so sad as he spoke.

  “I’m so sorry, Travis,” I said, taking him into a big hug.

  “It’s okay. I’m kind of into someone else anyway.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” he answered.

  “Come on, I’m your best friend. You called me because you wanted to talk. You can tell me anything, Trav,” I said.

  “I know I can, Jules,” he said.

  “If you aren’t going to tell me, why did you insist on coming over right in the middle of my date with Nick?” I asked.

  “That was a date?”

  “Okay, not technically. He came over for work stuff, but I’m pretty sure that was just a cover for both of us.”

  “So what happened after the work stuff?”

  “He admitted he is into me. There was a lot of kissing and definitely some moaning. It was just getting hot when the phone rang, so thanks for that.”

  “You didn’t have to answer.”

  “No shit, but Nick handed me the phone. I found that to be very gentlemanly.”

  “It’s alright.”

  “It’s sexy. So answer my question. Why did you insist on coming over tonight?”

  “I don’t know. I just needed to talk to you about Brooke. I feel awful about it.”

  “How did you do it?” I asked gently.

  “I just went over to her house and I told her that I wasn’t into it anymore. She was so upset. She cried. She called me an asshole and every other name in the book. She thinks I cheated on her and I’m leaving her for someone else.”

  “Why in the world would she think that?”

  “I don’t know. She never really trusted me; at least I don’t think she did. I told her it wasn’t about anyone else; that it was about me not feeling right about things. But she didn’t care.”

  “How long were you two dating?”

  “Not long. Exclusively for a few weeks, maybe.”

  “Well better now than later, right?”

  He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. She isn’t seeing it that way right now.”

  “She’ll be okay. Now tell me about this other girl you like.”

  He made a zipping his lip signal, and I giggled. We hung out and cleared some sitcoms off of my DVR while he drank beer and I continued with my wine. Travis slept over on the couch that night, and the next morning I awoke to the sound of the radio.

  “Turn the damn radio down,” I yelled groggily.

  “Sorry babydoll,” he yelled back. He seemed quite chipper for 7:00 in the morning the day after his big breakup.

  I got out of bed and went into the living room. Travis was cooking.

  “Why are you in such a good mood? I thought you were all distraught over your breakup with Brooke,” I started.

  “Well you made me feel so much better last night. Hanging out was fun; it’s been so long since we’ve done that, just you and me. I had a good time and I just wanted to thank you for it by making you breakfast,” he replied.

  “That was very sweet of you, Trav. Thank you,” I said, kissing him on the cheek.

  He had set my small kitchen table for me and I sat down to a glass of orange juice as I waited for my b
reakfast to finish cooking.

  “So tell me more about Nick,” he said distractedly after he placed my breakfast in front of me and sat down across the table from me with a plate of his own.

  “He’s so hot,” I said dreamily as I thought of the previous night again, when his lips were on mine. I wanted it to happen again; the sooner, the better. “I asked him over to help me with a market analysis due Friday – even though I really didn’t need the help. We set a plan for the week so I can finish it by Friday, and then we ate some food and drank some wine and he asked me to dance. He told me that he has feelings for me, and I told him about my crush on him, then he kissed me and we made out for awhile.”

  “Good for you. I’m happy that you’re happy,” he smiled warmly at me.

  After eating my breakfast, I got into the shower and got ready for work. I wanted to look good that day, since it was the day after Nick and I had revealed our feelings for each other. Travis was still there when I finally was ready to go to work. “You taking the day off work?” I asked, wondering why he was still at my apartment and not at his job.

  “No, I don’t have to go in until 11:00 today. Big meeting at 5:00, so I’m heading in late and staying late,” he answered.

  Travis worked at a big architecture firm in Phoenix. He often took whatever hours he wanted since his dad owned the company. He worked hard in his own right, but his dad didn’t care when he came in as long as he put in at least eight hours a day.

  “Well that’s a tough job you’ve got. How do I look?” I asked.

  “Gorgeous, as you always do, Jules,” he answered.

  “Aw Trav, you’re so good to me,” I said. “I gotta run to work. Are you staying here or leaving?” He had a key to my place, so he knew he was welcome to do whatever he wanted.