by Claire Adams
Whatever this thing between me and Andrew was. No one seemed to know what Andrew and my relationship was, and that was part of the uncertainty at dinner.
I watched Andrew wipe down the already-clean countertops in the kitchen. My brow furrowed. “Are you okay?” I asked.
He glanced up at me and smiled, but the expression didn't quite reach his eyes. “Why wouldn't I be?” he asked, a little extra vigor in his cleaning.
I stared at him for a long moment and then shrugged carefully. “You just seem tense,” I said. “Just figured I'd ask if you were all right.”
“I'm fine,” he said in a clipped tone.
“Okay,” I said. I finished putting away the leftover food and then paused in the doorway of the kitchen. “Tonight was fun, but I guess I'm going to go to bed, then. Have a good night.”
“Wait,” Andrew said, as I started to retreat. He tossed the rag in the sink and turned towards me, raking a hand back through his hair. “I'm sorry. I'm just distracted.” He paused. “What did you think of Katherine?”
“I liked her,” I assured him. “She's very nice, just like you said. I'm not sure that I'll take her up on the admin job because it's probably better suited to someone with experience in the non-profit field, but it was nice of her to offer. And the doll she brought for Emma is gorgeous.” I smiled. “Actually, Katherine reminds me a lot of my friend Misty.”
“Good,” Andrew said, but he still seemed distracted. I waited, wondering if he'd say anything else. But when he spoke again, his words caught me off guard. “Come to bed with me.”
I blinked. We'd had sex a couple times now, but I still spent most nights alone in the guest bedroom. I knew he was probably horny, having gone from sleeping with multiple women per week to sleeping with nobody after he broke up with Renée, but he'd been very good about keeping his hands to himself.
The fact that we'd just had dinner with his sister made this seem like something more, maybe. Like he wasn't just asking for sex.
“Okay,” I said simply.
Andrew glanced around. “I want to finish up a couple more things down here, but I'll see you up there, okay?”
“Okay.”
I walked slowly upstairs, dragging my hand along the banister in an attempt to ground myself. For the first time all night, I allowed myself to think of some of the comments that Katherine had made, the hints that she'd dropped.
I wasn't stupid. I knew that Andrew had dragged her into the other room so that he could tell her off for hinting that our relationship had a future. But maybe she knew something that I didn't. Maybe he'd only been telling her off for spoiling the surprise?
But Andrew didn't seem like he was ready to propose, and to be honest, I didn't know what I'd say if he did. I wanted to get my feet back under me before I thought about marriage. We weren't even saying that we loved one another yet. Getting engaged already would feel too hurried, like we weren't thinking things through. Like maybe he was acting out of guilt rather than love.
You couldn't build a solid relationship based on guilt. And I had no desire to have a loveless relationship like my parents.
Andrew came up to bed a few minutes after I'd lain down. He stripped, his eyes on me the whole time, and then crawled into bed next to me, pulling me into his arms.
“I'm glad you liked Kate,” he said quietly.
“I hope she liked me,” I mumbled. “I know how important her opinion is to you.”
Andrew laughed. “I'm sure she liked you. And she was absolutely smitten with Emma, of course.”
“But?” I pressed.
Andrew was quiet for a moment. “Katherine's not the most tactful person in the world. I know that she just wants me to be happy, but she might have said a few things that put undue pressure on our relationship. I hope you weren't bothered by them.”
I pulled back so that I could look up at him. I wondered how to answer that. Clearly, he was more freaked out about the whole commitment thing than I'd realized.
“I don't think she meant to put undue stress on our relationship,” I finally told him. “I think she just wasn't sure exactly what point our relationship was at. To be honest, I don't think that we really know either. We haven't defined it in so many words.” I paused. “If anything, I think she was just trying to figure out what point we were at. But I wasn't bothered by any of it.”
“Good,” Andrew said, sounding relieved. He pulled me back toward his chest, probably so that he wouldn't have to look me in the eyes during his confession. “I do want to get married at some point, to someone. But I'm not ready to consider that just yet. Not with anyone. And things have already moved so quickly with us, with you moving in here and having Emma, that I just want to enjoy your presence for a little while longer before we start talking about anything more serious.”
“Is that what this is about?” I asked teasingly, dragging my fingers along the skin of his torso. “Me being here in bed with you? We're enjoying one another's presence?”
Andrew chuckled. “Well, I should hope so.” He caught my wrists and rolled us over so that he was on top of me. “Of course, if you're not enjoying my presence just yet, I suppose I'll have to do something about that.”
“Like what?” I asked challengingly.
He growled wordlessly and bent down to kiss me. The kiss was bruising and sensual, much more than a simple meeting of the lips. He rocked his hips down in time with the movements of his mouth, letting me feel how hard he already was, waking an answering desire in me.
He maneuvered my wrists so that he pinned them with just one hand. Then he brought his other hand down and slid it beneath my shirt, caressing the soft skin of my breasts. He pulled away for a moment and just stared down at me, an unreadable expression on his face.
I raised an eyebrow at him and then slowly removed my shirt, revealing my naked body beneath. Andrew hummed a pleased noise and then bent to trail his lips across my skin, making goosebumps rise in waves. I trembled, burying my fingers in his soft hair as he began to lick at my breasts, sucking the nipples until they stood sharply against my skin.
He repositioned himself so that he hovered over me again and dragged his fingertips up my sides. It seemed like there was something that he wanted to say, but he wasn't sure how to word it.
I groaned impatiently. “Are we fucking or talking?” I asked.
Andrew cleared his throat, sounding awkward. “I'd like you to sleep in here,” he said.
I rolled my eyes but caught his hips, trying to get him to resume what he'd been doing. “So glad you're not kicking me out,” I said sarcastically.
Andrew blinked and then shook his head. “That's not what I meant,” he told me. “I meant, I'd like you to sleep in here, from now on. I don't want you to sleep in the guest bedroom anymore. Unless you really want to. But I like the idea of waking up with you every morning.”
I stared at him for a long moment, sure that he was kidding. But he looked as serious as I'd ever seen him. “Okay, I’d like that,” I said simply. “Now can we continue?”
Andrew snorted at my impatience and kissed me again. It was gentler this time, although just as steamy. His tongue delved into my mouth and drew out lewd whimpers from me.
He pushed my legs up, opening me up for him, and then he plunged inside my entrance, foregoing foreplay and sheathing himself fully in my warmth. I sighed and tugged at his shoulders, pulling him close and burying my face against his neck to breathe in his heady scent.
Our sex that night wasn't lazy, but there was something slower about it, something sweeter. The word “languid” popped up in my head. Whatever it was, I liked it.
He stroked my clit as he rocked his hips into mine, his movements unhurried and tender. I shuddered and spread my legs further to allow him access, shifting against the sheets to change the angle until every stroke made sparks erupt in my core.
My skin felt heated and flushed, and I couldn't seem to keep my eyes open for longer than a couple seconds. The pleasure continued
to build, spilling through me until I thought that I would fly apart into a thousand pieces. Each stroke of his fingertips seared with promise as he mercilessly played with my erogenous zones.
I came hard. My walls contracted around his length and drew Andrew into his own orgasm.
For a long moment, the only sound between us was our harsh panting as we caught our breath again. Andrew curled his body around mine as my eyes drifted shut. “Good night,” I whispered.
“Good night,” he responded, his voice a low rumble.
I thought again about what he'd said, about wanting me to sleep in there. It might not be a definition of our relationship or a declaration of love, but it was a step forward, at least.
Anyway, it wasn't as though I had any complaints about sleeping in there, not if every night was going to be like this one.
Chapter Thirty
Andrew
I took a sip of my coffee as I watched the numbers in the elevator tick away until we reached the floor that my office was on. In the week since I'd briefed the board of executives that I was going to be putting in fewer hours at work, I'd managed to stay true to my promise. Of course, I could probably cut back on my hours slightly further, but there was no reason to cut back all at once, I reasoned. If I did a little better this week and a little better next week, things would be fine.
That morning, though, I'd allowed myself a bit of a lazy morning. I'd woken up next to Lexi and hadn't been able to drag myself out of bed. But finally, I hadn't been able to delay any longer. I had a couple meetings lined up at the office that day. So as much as I wanted to stay there, with Lexi tucked into my side, that wasn't an option. Not today, at least.
I whistled as I got off the elevator and headed towards my office.
“Mr. Goldwright!” my secretary chirped, standing up as I got nearer.
“Yes?” I asked, slowing my walk. Usually, she let me get through my coffee and my email before she gave me the rundown for my day. I had to assume that she had something important to tell me already, and it had to be truly dire. “Did one of my meetings cancel?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I just wanted to let you know, before you go in your office, that your girlfriend is in there. I asked her to wait out here before you arrived, but she wouldn't listen.”
The poor girl looked terrified, no doubt thinking that I would fire her for her inability to keep the woman out of my office. After all, there was sensitive information in there. But I smiled at her. “That's all right,” I said.
“Oh, of course, sir!” she said. She looked on the cusp of babbling more, but she settled with a short curtsy and then dropped back into her seat.
I nodded at her and headed into my office, wondering how Lexi had managed to beat me there. And wondering what she was doing there. Did she have it in mind to carry out some sexy office fantasy? The thought had my cock twitching in my pants, but this wasn't the day for it. I'd told her that I had meetings that I needed to get to that morning.
Then, I paused, my hand on the doorknob. The secretary hadn't told me that Lexi was in there. She'd just said that my girlfriend was in there. I'd automatically jumped to the conclusion that she meant Lexi, despite the fact that Lexi and I had never had that conversation.
I smiled a little to myself and headed inside.
But when I entered my office, it wasn't Lexi who sat there waiting for me. Instead, it was Renée.
I stared at her for a long moment, dumbstruck by the sight of her. “What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, unable to keep the annoyance from my voice as I moved behind my desk, hardly bothering to look at her.
“Oh, don't be like that,” Renée said, rolling her eyes. “I gave you some space. Now it's time to get over whatever it was you were thinking and fix our relationship.”
“That's not going to happen,” I said exasperatedly. “Renée, we broke up. You need to learn how to let things go.”
“You know the saying, everything worth having is worth fighting for?” Renée asked, shaking her head. She came around the desk towards me, putting her hand on my arm. “I know you weren't sure about us, but I know it's just because you were scared of the commitment. But I can help you with that. You don't need to run off with some new girl. You can be with me. We'll take things slowly, I promise.”
“Not going to happen,” I said, shaking her hand off my arm. “Renée, we had fun. But that's it. It was just sex and nice dinners, nothing more. I enjoyed them, and I'm sure that you did as well. But we aren't soulmates. There's nothing to fight for.”
“That's not true, and you know it,” Renée said. “You told me you loved me.”
“I told you that, but I don't think I meant it,” I sighed. “I'm sorry, Renée, but I didn't feel anything for you. And deep down, I don't think you felt anything for me, either. You might like the idea of loving me, but that's not the same as loving me. I don't regret the time we spent together, but I'm not going to pretend that we had some deeper connection.”
“That's not true!” Renée cried, looking like she wanted to stamp her foot and throw a proper tantrum.
I rolled my eyes. “I'm going to have to ask you to leave,” I said, already moving towards the door. “Whatever we had, whether we loved one another or not, it's over. I'm with someone else now.”
Renée snorted derisively. “That woman,” she said. “Darling, I'm just trying to protect you.”
“I'm not exactly the kind of man who needs protection from a woman,” I scoffed.
“Are you sure?” Renée asked. “Is that woman still living with you?”
“Janice?” I asked, deliberately trying to be evasive. “Janice has never lived with me; she just comes over to work during the daytime.”
“Not Janice,” my ex said, rolling her eyes. “The other woman; Lexi.”
“That's none of your business,” I said.
“I looked into her background,” Renée told me. “She's bad news, Andy. She comes from a broken home, and she hasn't had a steady job in years. I'm surprised that she's even been able to feed that kid of hers. She probably has to steal to support them.”
She paused, looking expectantly at me, but I didn't say anything, figuring that it was best to let her get it all out of her system before I reiterated my request for her to get the fuck out of my office. Sure enough, she continued, sounding increasingly agitated.
“Now she doesn't even have to steal, though, does she? She's convinced you that her kid is yours, and you'll do anything for her now. But she's just some fucking gold digger chasing after your money. She's just trying to get her claws into you and to drain you of everything you have.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “A woman doesn't have to be from a broken home to be a gold digger,” I said. “Maybe you're just jealous because your skills as a gold digger were bested by hers.”
Renée gaped at me. “I'm not a gold digger!” she cried. “I'm not after your money! I love you. You know that.”
I shrugged. “You're a beast in the sack; I'll give you that,” I said. “But I'm sorry, Renée, I don't really find you all that interesting. Whether you're a gold digger or not, we won't work out. I'm not interested in trying anymore.”
“I can't believe you would say that,” Renée snapped. “I'm not a gold digger. You were the one who took me out to the fancy places and the new clubs. You were the one who bought me gifts when you traveled. I didn't ask for any of those things.”
“Right,” I said, rolling my eyes. “And if I didn't take you out to nice restaurants and clubs on the weekends, you'd sulk and throw a hissy fit. If I didn't give you gifts when I came back from a business trip, you'd pout. You may not have asked for those things in so many words, but you wouldn't have dated me if I hadn't spent money on you. Don't go pretending that you're some saint.”
“And things are so much better with Lexi, are they?” Renée snarled. “You never buy her gifts or take her out places? You only let her live in your home and eat your food and have Janice ta
ke her brat to the park.”
“What's going on between Lexi and me is none of your business,” I told her, beginning to lose my patience. “Now, if you'll please leave.”
“That bitch!” Renée practically howled, and I was glad, not for the first time, that my office was soundproof and no one else could hear her ranting. “She's just some sort of office slut loser!” she shrieked, hardly making sense anymore. “The only thing that she's managed to do right in her life is get knocked up. She's a slimy, good-for-nothing con, and I can't believe that you're letting her get away with it!”
God, what I wouldn't give to be able to slap her for saying those things about Lexi. Unfortunately, I knew that if she walked out of my office with a bright red handprint on the side of her face, things were going to get awkward fast. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and my nails dug half-circles into my palms.
But Renée wasn't done yet.
“And that brat of hers! You don't like kids. You've never liked kids. I can't believe you're putting up with that thing living in your house. It probably makes a mess everywhere and bothers you when you're trying to work, doesn't it?”
“She,” I said, even though I knew that Renée was far from caring at this point. “And the only thing that you've ever managed to do right in your life was being born into a wealthy family.” I started to realize that part of what made the woman so fiery in bed was symptomatic of a more unstable personality than I'd ever noticed. “Renée, I want you the hell out of my office, and this time, I'm not asking nicely.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked, a taunting note to her voice. “Everyone knows I'm your girlfriend. No one's going to want to intervene in a lover's quarrel.”
“I will call security, and regardless of what you seem to think, they will be on my side,” I threatened, my voice low and dangerous. “I am the owner of this company, and I pay those guys to remove unwanted disturbances, after all. I don't care if they have to drag you out kicking and screaming: they will make sure that you're no longer a nuisance here. And if you ever show up here again or show up at my house, I will have you arrested for trespassing. Do I make myself clear?”