by Ella Brooke
“Bullshit,” Doug said. “I see how you look at her.”
“How?” I asked.
“Like ‘naked’ should be the dress code in your office.”
I rolled my eyes and put my fist on my hip, bouncing my knee on the floor. Where the hell was my whiskey?
After two drinks, we ordered the check, and I drove home, taking back roads to avoid being pulled over. I wasn’t drunk, but I didn’t feel like getting a DUI – my reputation had to stay spotless for my company to survive at all – and Lillian was waiting for me. I thought about what Doug had said on the way. He was right, of course. I wanted to tap that with Elena, badly. I chuckled at his naked comment now that he wasn’t around to see me enjoy it. God, if only. But it was Elena, and she worked for me. If I wasn’t careful, the attraction between us could turn into something that could get us into trouble. My company didn’t need that.
But I did. My want was turning into a need. I needed to fuck her.
I pulled into the garage and entered the kitchen, tiptoeing past Lilly’s room to wake up Diane in one of the guest bedrooms. She wasn’t in a deep sleep, sitting up in bed when I quietly opened the door.
“Thank you,” I whispered and pushed a wad of bills into her hands. It was more than she charged me. A lot more.
“This is too much,” she said.
“It’s just right,” I said and gestured with my head down the passage. She smiled, and I let her out.
When I walked into Lilly’s room, I heard her cough. It was only one or two, and it wasn’t deep and raspy. I let myself into her room and kissed her on the head, pulling the covers up a little. She sighed in her sleep, and I watched her for a moment, marveling that I had a hand in making something so perfect.
“Goodnight, princess,” I whispered before leaving her room and closing the door halfway again. I walked to my bedroom, showering before getting into bed. When I lay beneath the covers and closed my eyes, the world spun ever so slowly around me, suggesting that the alcohol had affected me more than I’d thought.
Elena’s face flashed before me, and I was aware of my own heartbeat. I was tired, but it was fulfilling, rather than exhausting. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Four
Elena
On Sunday I was meeting Beth for lunch. We met at Naked Lunch on Broadway. It was the kind of place that was upscale and homey at the same time, cozy and casual with creative snacks and drinks.
We sat down at a table toward the back after hugging each other longer than was necessary. I hadn’t seen Beth since we were in college together.
Beth was a year younger than I was, a year behind with her graduation and only set to finish in May. We had met in a class we’d shared for sophomore and freshman year students, and we’d hit it off so well we’d lived together for a couple of monthsIt had changed after Beth had moved in with her boyfriend of six years – the man she was marrying, now.
“I can’t believe we’ve waited this long to hang out,” Beth said. “It’s a crime.”
I nodded. “Life happens, and before you know it, you’re old and alone.”
“And melodramatic,” Beth pointed out. We both laughed.
“Besides, I’m not alone. I have Rick. And you? You can’t still be single, a hot thing on wheels like you are.”
I laughed again. I didn’t exactly see myself as a “hot thing on wheels” like Beth explained it. At least, not usually. When I was with Noah, it was different. Everything was different around him.
A waiter arrived and took our order of gourmet sandwiches and coffee.
“I don’t have anyone,” I said.
Beth reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “That’s just because he hasn’t come along yet,” she said.
Or because he was my boss and it was forbidden, I thought.
“How’s your new job?” Beth asked. “You’re permanent now, right?”
I nodded. “It’s great,” I said. “I feel like I’m part of the family that is Saturn Intelligence.”
That part was true. I did feel at home, there.
The coffee arrived, and our conversation halted while the waiter made a fuss about putting the cups in front of us and pointing out the sugar. Beth took the artificial sweetener from the sugar square, and I watched her pour it into her coffee. This was why she stayed model skinny, built like she stepped from the pages of a magazine. Nothing like me with my curves, big ass and big breasts to balance it all out.
“So, you studied an MBA to become a secretary?” Beth asked, stirring her coffee before sucking on the spoon.
I rolled my eyes. “You sound like my mom.” I doctored my coffee.
“Sorry,” Beth said. “I’m working my ass off and I hope this isn’t all there is for me.”
I shook my head. “You’ll get some fancy job and quit before a year is over because Rick is wealthy, and he’ll offer to support you,” I said.
“That’s not true,” Beth said. “You know how important it is to be independent.’
I nodded, but I didn’t think I was wrong. Beth and Rick were the perfect couple, supportive and in sync in a way I could only dream to be with someone. He would support her because he doted on her, and she would let him because she knew that it was his love language.
“How are your classes going?” I asked.
Beth shrugged. “Besides being sick of studying? Well enough. I can’t wait until this is over, though. I’m in the final stretch. I’m so jealous you graduated already.”
“But your life is on track with everything else,” I said. “A place of your own, a perfect boyfriend and soon a degree. I foresee a great job lined up in the near future and a proposal from the man you ditched me for.”
Beth laughed. “I didn’t ditch you for him. But it’s love, Elena. You can’t blame me, right?” She fiddled with her napkin.
“What?” I asked.
The sandwiches arrived, and we sat in silence while our food was arranged as our coffee had been. When the waiter left, Beth lifted her left hand. A diamond I hadn’t seen before sparkled on her finger.
“Oh, my God!” I cried and grabbed her hand, studying the ring. “Why didn’t you call me the moment it happened?”
“Because it happened this morning. You’re the first person I’m telling. I know I’m supposed to do the whole gift thing, and I will I swear, but will you be my maid of honor? I can’t wait until I have everything together to ask you.”
I leaned over the table, jostling our coffee so they both spilled and hugged her.
“Of course,” I said. “I’m so happy for you.”
“I’m so happy, E,” Beth said, smiling. She was glowing like any future bride should. “It’s not going to be forever before we get married. I don’t want a two-year engagement.”
“I bet Rick is in a hurry, too,” I said. They’d already been dating for so many years they knew what they were getting themselves into. Beth laughed and nodded.
“Now you just need to find someone.”
I shrugged. “Well, if I fell for the people that weren’t off limits it would make thing easier.”
“What are you talking about?” Beth asked, frowning.
I looked up at her, and my silence was enough of an answer. Beth’s eyes twinkled. “You can’t keep secrets from me,” she said.
“What are secrets?” I asked, and we giggled. I told Beth everything and she told me everything. At least, we used to do that. But it was so easy to seamlessly slip into the comfortable friendship we’d had. When time passed, and we didn’t change to each other, it showed off how great we were as friends.
“Is it someone at work?” Beth asked. “I can’t think of anyone else that would be off limits for you. Your mom will accept anyone at this point so you don’t become an old maid.”
“Thanks for that,” I said, pausing to eat.
“I’m kidding,” Beth laughed. “Tell me.”
I took a deep breath, swallowing my food.
“It�
��s my boss.”
Beth raised her eyebrows. “Yeah, really off limits. The boss sleeping with his secretary? Cliché.”
I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling. “Bitch,” I said, cutting another bite from my gourmet sandwich. It had been pinned down with a toothpick to keep all the components together. “And we’re not sleeping together. We only kissed.”
I glanced up at Beth to gauge her reaction. Her hazel eyes were on my face, her lips parted, and she buzzed with curiosity.
“At least,” I added, “he kissed me. It was unexpected. But fantastic.”
Beth chuckled. “Yeah, that sounds like trouble to me.”
I shrugged, putting a bite in my mouth. I chewed, thinking about Noah and the way he’d pressed his lips against mine.
“I can see now why you’re so happy at work,” Beth said. “How did it make you feel?”
“I can’t explain it to you,” I said, swallowing. “He’s amazing, Beth. I really like him. I know I shouldn’t, and I tried not to. But I couldn’t help it.”
“Are you sure you’re the only one that feels that way? Or does he have a string of girls?”
I was offended. Beth was being a good friend, and her question was legitimate. But it made me feel like I could be a fling, and I didn’t want to think I was.
“He’s not like that. He has a daughter,” I said defensively.
“That doesn’t sound like a redeeming quality,” Beth pointed out.
I sighed. “He’s a single dad with full custody; thirty so he’s grown up a bit. But what I mean is that he’s not the kind that screws around and has a string of women.” At least, that was what I thought. I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. I didn’t know him outside the office. But the Noah I had come to know – charming and funny – didn’t fit the description of a womanizer. What did a womanizer look like? Not like Noah.
“I’m glad you’re happy,” Beth said, and there was no sarcasm in her voice, now. “If anyone deserves it, it's you. But getting involved with your boss is dangerous.”
I nodded. She was right.
“It’s not like much has happened,” I said.
“No, but it could. If you allow something, it grows stronger. Do you know what I mean?”
I nodded. If I let things go further with Noah, I would get more and more tangled up in him. Beth was right. She always was. But it was so easy to be right when you were standing on the sidelines without being emotionally involved. I couldn’t help how I felt. Beth could tell me how dangerous it was, but she hadn’t met Noah. She didn’t know how he could make me feel like I was the only person that commanded his attention, or what it meant when he told me I was good at what I did. She had no idea how it was to be there first thing in the morning with him, alone, and be the last one to see him late at night.
To know about Lillian and ask after her, to see him talk about her, rolling the words around in his mouth as if it were candy.
“Just be careful,” Beth said.
When lunch was over, I drove home. Beth and I had talked more about weddings and what she had in mind. My mind buzzed with wedding ideas and Noah, interlaced so that I knew it was dangerous to think about it all at the same time. It was better to catalog my thoughts about him somewhere else that didn’t revolve around happily-ever-after. I was steering toward heartache, otherwise.
I fished for my phone in my handbag and saw a missed call from Noah. I returned his call, and he answered almost immediately.
“I missed your call,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it, it’s the weekend.”
His voice was like velvet, caressing my skin through the phone.
“What did you need?” I asked. I wasn’t going to expect that he had phoned only to hear my voice.
“I was hoping you could attend another meeting with me. I’m meeting the Marketing Executives in the morning, and I need your support.
Well, it wasn’t a personal call, but it still meant something. He was turning to me for support.
“Of course,” I said. “First thing?”
“First thing,” he said.
“I’ll see you then,” I said.
“Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Elena.”
He hung up, and the echo of my name on his lips clung to me. I would be in the office early again. I was a morning person anyway, and I had no reason to be home any longer than it took me to get ready for work.
Besides, lately, I’d been excited to go to work. At first, it was because I was eager to make a good impression. Then it was because I enjoyed my job. Now, it was because of Noah and like a teenager, I was excited to see the man I had a crush on. I was being silly, I told myself. I was looking for trouble in a place where I would find it, and I had to stop this nonsense.
But I couldn’t.
I worked for a man I was attracted to, and the things he did weren’t helping. If he hadn’t kissed me, maybe I wouldn’t have been in so much danger of putting myself in a dangerous position. But he had done it and I’d kissed him back. And didn’t regret it at all.
A part of me wanted it all to happen again.
“You’re playing with fire,” I told myself, out loud so I could be sure I heard it. But who doesn’t like a little danger now and then to spice up the dull rise and fall of life? Besides, I’ve always like fire.
Chapter Five
Noah
The weekend with Lilly had been good, but she was wilting a little.
“I’m worried she’s getting sick,” I said to her teacher when I dropped her at school. “Please keep an eye on her and let me know if something’s up.”
“We will,” Mrs. Kramer said to me. She was the kind of woman that I was sure every parent wished for when it came to childcare, and I walked away, assured that Lilly was in good hands.
When I arrived at the office, Elena was already there.
“I’m never going to beat you to it,” I said.
Elena smiled at me, and it brought out her evergreen eyes. “It’s my job to be here before you,” she said.
I couldn’t argue with that. It wasn’t seven yet, and we were both in my office, the only employees in the building aside from the night guard that would change shifts with his replacement at eight. The offices were like a sleeping beast, curled around us, shielding us from the outside world, from reality.
Elena walked to my desk and leaned over a notepad she was writing something on. I had a perfect view of her ass. It was round and firm, larger than Hollywood deemed perfect, but I liked that in a woman. With the stick models, I was also scared I would break them when I was too rough.
She wore a pencil skirt that went down to her knees. A slit split the fabric perfectly up the middle, only a few inches but it was enough for me to want to run my hands up it to see how far I could go.
“Gerald let me know we could send in a photographer for the campaign,” Elena said, looking over her shoulder. I looked up at her, but she’d already caught me staring. I felt like an idiot, shuffling my weight from one foot to the other, but she turned and leaned against the table, her ass on the edge, fingers curled around it. It pulled her shoulders back and pushed out her breasts. The white blouse she wore stretched across her chest, the buttons straining to hold it together, and I wished they would give up the fight.
I was grateful for my suit coat that would hide the roaring erection in my pants.
“How’s Lillian?” Elena asked. Either she was ignoring the sexual tension, or she didn’t feel it. I glanced down at her chest again, beautifully on display. I was willing to bet she was ignoring it. She couldn’t not feel it.
“She’s okay,” I said. “The playgroup I send her to is amazing.”
Elena smiled, and I wondered how I could make small talk when all I could think about was fucking Elena.
“Are you ready for this meeting?” Elena asked.
Work. Right. We had to stick to the plan, to do what we’d come here for. I nodded. “I think so,” I answered. “I have to admit that the invest
or’s meeting on Friday made me nervous about how well the public with receive the product.”
Elena shook her head. “Get rid of those thoughts. The product is great. I saw the beta test reviews myself. They’ll love it.”
I nodded. I hoped she was right. The company and its dive toward rock bottom fought for attention in my mind, pushing away the lust and dirty thoughts.
“Will Mr. Thompson join us for this one?” Elena asked, referring to Doug.
I shook my head. “No, it’s the executives that lead with the ideas for the campaigns. We need to approach this topic right for the investors, so I wanted to get them in to discuss the ideas we brainstormed.”
Elena nodded. “Pity, Mr. Thompson keeps things light.”
She was right. Doug knew how to make everyone laugh even when stress levels ran high. But this was bigger and more serious than Doug could ever be.
“How was your weekend?” Elena asked after we went through some files in silence together.
“It was good. I took Lillian to the movies, and I bought her a new dress. Something about an ice princess that everyone loves. Elsa?”
Elena laughed. “I hear it’s all the rage. She’s one of the newest Disney princesses.”
“Well, apparently now so is Lilly,” I said.
Elena’s face softened. “You’re a good dad,” she said and warmth spread through my chest. There were so many days I asked myself if I was doing the right thing, playing the parenting game right, doing right by Lilly by being a dad and a mom. She had Diane to look up to, but it wasn’t the same as having a real mom.
“What about your weekend?” I asked.
“My friend got engaged,” Elena said.
“Congratulations,” I said. Elena smiled and thanked me. I could see she was excited about the idea of a wedding, but the thought of it left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought about Cheryl when I thought about weddings, and I didn’t associate marriage with happiness.
Elena seemed to pick up on the mood in the room and cleared her throat, changing the topic. This was why I liked having her around. She could read me in a way no one else had ever been able to.