by J A Fielding
“I hope you don’t mind me just dropping in,” Trina said and he shook his head.
“I would never mind you dropping in. Ever.”
He got up and walked towards her. He gave her a quick kiss and when she pulled away, he frowned when he saw her face all scrunched up.
“What?” he asked.
“I smell something sweet.”
“I had a Cinnabon brought up for my coffee and I think there is still one in the box. They were still warm when they brought them up. Maybe that is why you can still smell it because this damn office has been turned into a bakery or something.”
She shrugged.
“Well, I don’t care about it. All I know is that I want that damn bun.”
He smiled and walked to his desk with Trina following closely.
“So, since when do you like Cinnabon? You push me to have that boring breakfast with you every single day.”
“Well, oatmeal is the healthy choice. Sugary treats only make you full for a few hours before you have to stuff your face again,” she said as she took a big bite.
“Do you know how ridiculously hypocritical you look saying that while doing…that?” Axel asked as he looked at her eating.
“But it is so good,” she said as she took another bite. “And I am starving.”
He shook his head.
“You usually say that the oatmeal powers you up until lunch.”
She nodded.
“It usually does, but there was an incident and I kind of lost my breakfast.”
He shook his head.
“Wait a minute, lost your breakfast? What is that even supposed to mean?”
The concern he had in his eyes made Trina regret her words almost immediately.
“Trina, what happened? How do you even lose food?” he pressed. “Wait, are you sick? Did you throw up or something?”
She dabbed the sides of her mouth and took a long deep breath.
“Well, yes and no. I did throw up, but I am not sick,” she said in a soft voice. “I mean, it could be last night’s salmon.”
He shook his head.
“I feel just fine.”
“Well, maybe your metabolism is a little slower than mine,” she said and he shook his head.
“Either way, it was fresh salmon. What are you not telling me, Trina?” he asked and she shook her head. “Why don’t we go to Dr. Young’s?”
She rolled her eyes and put the Cinnabon down.
“Okay, you need to sit down.”
“Why? What happened?” he asked.
Trina sighed loudly. For some reason, she was saying everything wrong. She seemed to be making him panic with every word she said.
“I had a walk in today and let’s just say that the sight of that person made me sick to my stomach,” she started and he shook his head.
“Just how bad does this new client look?” he asked and she smiled.
“Actually, that’s one of the reasons I’m here.”
Axel walked up to where she was and sat down next to her. He looked at her and shrugged.
“Well, are you going to make me pry it out of you or are you going to tell me already?” he asked and she took a long deep breath.
“The new client, the walk in is my ex,” she finally said and Axel shook his head.
“Okay. And?”
She shrugged.
“It doesn’t bother you that I am working with my ex?” she asked and he shook his head.
“Do you have any reason why it should bother me?”
“No, of course not. I just don’t want you to find out down the line and wonder why I didn’t tell you in the first place.”
Axel took her hand in his.
“You told me and that is more than I could ever ask for.”
She bit her lower lip.
“Are you sure you don’t have a problem with that?” she asked and he looked into her eyes.
“Okay, the more you talk about this, the more I feel like I should be worried about you working with your ex,” he said and she shook her head.
“No, there is nothing to worry about. It’s just that…I only seriously dated two other people apart from you and I told you it never ended well with them. And with this guy especially…” She shook her head.
“You never wanted to talk about your past relationships. You just always told me that things ended badly and I never wanted to make you feel like I was pushing the situation or anything.”
She smiled at him and took another bite of the Cinnabon.
“It is not that I felt like you were pushing the situation, but I did not want a situation that made you feel like you always had to prove yourself or anything. I mean, it is not like I was going to hold you to some obscene standard.”
He gently wiped off some cream from her cheek.
“I would never think or even feel like you are holding me to any obscene standard.”
“So, this is okay? Working with him?”
“I’m going to be okay with it but on one condition,” he said.
“All right and what’s that?” she asked.
“If he makes a move on you, let me know so I can wring his neck.”
She smiled and then laughed.
“Really?” she asked and he nodded.
“Oh, yeah. Some idiot does not get to treat you like dirt and then come back all this years later and try anything with you,” he said in a soft voice. “They had their chance and lost.”
She shook her head.
“Jealous much?”
“Have you seen yourself? I have no choice but to feel jealous,” he said and she held his cheek before giving him a kiss.
“You’re sweet.”
“I should get you something to eat,” he said before he kissed her cheek. “What do you feel like? Chinese? Hotdog?”
“How about a pizza? And it has to be a De Matteo’s pizza.”
He looked up from his phone and shook his head.
“Why can’t you have a Dominos? De Matteo’s is six blocks away and Dominos is just around the corner.”
“It is a combination thing. The perfect sauce and topping combination,” she said smiling and he shook his head.
“I don’t have the number in my phone.”
She rummaged through her bag and pulled out her phone.
“Don’t worry. I have,” she said as she scrolled through the phone. “And, maybe get your own weird pineapple thing, but I want mine with absolutely no fruit. Just extra everything.”
Axel smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Chapter 3
The next few days were dramatic at best as Trina tried figuring out a way around Lucas’ case. It was like every time she thought she had the situation handled, something else came up. She had thought of the case as a simple open and shut affair, but it was slowly turning out to be more dramatic than she had hoped. And even though more drama was entertaining, it also meant more work.
Unfortunately for her, work was not the only thing that was kicking her butt lately. She for some reason could not manage to get a handle on her food. Suddenly, everything she put in her mouth tasted funny except for crackers and rolled oats. She had half a mind to get a pregnancy test, but the other half of her was screaming at her that she might have been over-thinking things. But even Victoria had noticed that something was up. She had even insisted on Trina getting one of those home pregnancy tests from a drug store, but Trina still didn’t feel the need to. At least not yet. She did not want to feel like she was jumping the gun or anything. After all, she was really looking forward to the journey to motherhood and jumping the gun was a big deal for her because she did not want to set herself up for disappointment.
It was a particular struggle to get up on the following Saturday morning. She had her mind set on working that day but even though she was trying as hard as she could, she somehow couldn’t get out of bed which was a little weird since she had slept earlier than usual. She had convinced herself that she had gone to
bed early because of all the long hours she had been pulling and Axel had taken a three day trip out of town. He was supposed to get back on Sunday morning and it was on days like those when she considered getting a smaller place. Or a dog because a four-bedroom townhouse felt a little too big for her alone.
She rolled out of bed and reached for her phone.
“Damn it,” she thought when she saw the six mixed calls from her husband. “How did I not hear any of these?”
She noticed the time and exhaled loudly. It was a little after eleven, and she had no idea how she had somehow slept for over ten hours straight.
“I guess I can always work from home,” she said to no one in particular as she walked to the bathroom. She took a long relaxing shower before changing into a maxi halter-neck dress. She had her wet hair wrapped in a towel as she made her way downstairs. She hated just how quiet the house got when she was alone. Somehow, the day was staring out really, really badly, and she could not help but feel that it was going to be a long terrible day.
“Why the hell do I suddenly have a craving for a breakfast burrito?” she wondered as she looked into her fridge.
She was still wondering what she should make for breakfast when she heard the front door lock come undone. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned around and grabbed a steak knife from the counter. She slammed the fridge door shut and sunk to the floor wondering where her phone was. When she heard the door open, she had already calculated just how far the house phone was and she was about to make a run for it when she heard Axel’s voice. She breathed a sigh of relief and slowly got up.
“You scared me,” she said in a soft voice.
“I’m sorry,” Axel said as he walked to the kitchen. “Were you on the floor?”
She frowned.
“I wasn’t expecting anyone and I know I locked up last night.”
He smiled when he saw the knife in her hand.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He took the knife from her hand and pulled her into his arms.
“You were supposed to come in tomorrow,” she said as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“I know, but things moved along much faster than I anticipated and I thought I would come home early rather than sit in a hotel room doing nothing,” he explained. “I would have told you if you picked up last night.”
She pulled away from him and frowned.
“I’m sorry. I was out like a freaking light.”
He smiled.
“You had some of that green tea, didn’t you?” he asked and she shrugged.
“Guilty.”
He held her chin and kissed her softly.
“Why don’t you sit down and let me make you breakfast?” he asked and she smiled.
“That sounds heavenly. Thank you.” She sat down at the counter and looked at him. “Though I really feel I should be the one making you breakfast.”
“I don’t really think I should trust you with a knife considering you almost stabbed me a few minutes ago.”
“You cannot hold that against me,” she said defensively. “There is a perfectly good and reasonable explanation for that and you know it.”
He nodded.
“Yeah, I do.”
He began washing his hands as she looked at him.
“Aren’t you tired though? How about we just order in or something?” she asked and he turned off the water.
“The flight was only a couple of hours but that sounds like a great idea actually. What are you in the mood for?”
She shrugged.
“A couple of minutes ago, I wanted a breakfast burrito, but I also want some crispy bacon and juice.”
Axel snapped his fingers and opened the fridge.
“I can do the juice part before you settle on what you want,” he said as he got a pitcher of orange juice from the fridge. He poured two glasses and handed one to her. “So, I thought you were going to the office today or did I hear the wrong thing?”
She shrugged as they walked to the living room.
“Actually, that was the plan until I realized that I had already slept through half of the day.”
They sat down and he looked at her.
“So, are you still planning to go to the office?”
She frowned.
“I have actually not been feeling like much nowadays.”
He took a sip and reached for the remote.
“Being lazy on this couch sounds like the perfect plan actually.”
“Tell me about it.” She took a long sip of her juice. “This Lucas case is kicking my ass. Big time.”
“You don’t think a win is possible?” he asked and she shook her head.
“No. The only way out is for him to settle. And I support the idea of him settling after all, it is his fault, but the amount this former mistress is asking for…it’s a little too much.”
“You said he was a rich man.”
She nodded.
“He is, but I think there is something I am not seeing because every time the end is in sight, the girl does something to delay the process.” She took another sip of her juice. “Seriously, it is like she is intentionally delaying the entire process.”
“Maybe she knows something that only the name partners know. I mean, she might be leveraging the information.”
She looked at him and took a long deep breath.
“I guess, but what information could she have? She was just an assistant.”
“She might have been just an assistant, but she did share a lot of pillow talk with the man she supposedly loved.”
Trina sipped on her juice again. Her mind was working on overdrive and suddenly she had an idea.
“Give me your phone. Mine’s upstairs.”
“What do you want to do? What are you thinking right now?” he asked as he handed his phone to her.
“What is the one thing a girl like that would want more of?” she asked as she scrolled his contacts for Victoria’s number.
“I don’t know. Money?”
“Exactly. And maybe there is something about Lucas’ finances that we don’t know yet.” She held the phone to her ear and Axel took her glass when she almost spilled her juice on him. “Victoria, hi…yes. I slept in…do me a favor, have a forensic accountant look into Lucas’ assets. I think there is something cooking that his mistress knows about…yeah, sure. Thanks.”
Axel switched on the TV and shook his head.
“I just love it when your beautiful mind works on overdrive.”
“So, do you maybe think my mind was on overdrive last night and I thought of getting a dog?” she asked and he turned to look at her.
“A dog?”
“Or maybe two so that they can keep each other company.”
Axel forced out a laugh. He had brought up the pet idea before and she said that she would rather start small. Something like a hamster or something.
“What happened to getting started with a hamster or a bird?” he asked and she shrugged.
“Well, back then things were different. I had just left HHM and was under a lot of stress getting Crews and Associates off the ground…the point is I didn’t have time then but things are different now.”
She looked at him and reached for his hand.
“You think it’s possible for us to get to the pet store later? Maybe get a new friend to keep me company when you are away?” she asked in a mock baby voice and he nodded.
“Of course, yes.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek, her chin and then softly kissed her mouth. “Do you know the breed you want?”
She held the back of his neck and smiled.
“Actually, yeah. A border collie.”
He laughed.
“A collie? Really? Do you have a flock of sheep somewhere that I don’t know about?”
“Collies are cute.”
“No, Japanese Spitz are cute. Teacup puppies are even cuter.”
“Everyone has a Japanese Spitz. I don’t want to get confused at
the park when I take the dog for a walk and teacup puppies are too cute, but they look like overgrown cats.”
“Come on, meet me halfway or something.”
A grin played on her lips.
“Okay.” She pulled herself up and took his juice from his hand. “I get to make you cum first and we get a collie. I cum first and…” She unwrapped her hair and let her damp curls fall loose. “You win.”
“This is so not fair,” he said as she straddled him and began gyrating on him knowing full well what she was doing to him.
“Considering this is how you made me give up my old car, this is so fair.”
“That car was a death trap…this…” He exhaled loudly and threw his head back. “This is so different.”
“You made your bed, mister,” she said as she leaned in and began nibbling on his ear making him moan softly. She knew what she was doing to him and she loved the effect she had on him. His neck and his earlobe were his weak spots. He held her waist as she gently worked her tongue up and down his neck. She could feel him gradually getting hard under her. She ran her tongue down his neck and then up again as her hands worked on his shirt buttons.
She undid the first four buttons before she pulled the two ends of the shirt apart sending the buttons flying all over the floor. He held the back of her neck and gently brought her head down to kiss her lips. His tongue found hers and she moaned into his mouth as he tugged at the knot that held her dress up.
“Naughty, naughty,” she mumbled against his lips when she felt the fabric slide down her breast, gently caressing her nipples as the dress gathered around her waist.
“What can I say, I have missed my wife,” he said as he pulled back and looked at her breasts. “I will never get tired of seeing this.”
She closed her eyes and slowly brought a hand up to hold one perfect breast in his hand. She closed her eyes and threw her head back when he began fondling her just before he took her other nipple into his mouth and began sucking on her breast. Hard. She could not really do much but just hold the back of his head as he worked his tongue around her hard nipple. Soon, she was moaning louder and louder and he was working one hand down the side of her body.
“Are you expecting anyone anytime soon?” he asked as he worked a hand under her dress to gently caress her thigh.
“No,” she whispered.