Just One Spark: A Black Alcove Novel

by Jami Wagner

  I tilt her chin till she’s looking up at me. Her gaze latches onto mine and she smiles.

  “This is a bad idea,” she says.

  I kiss her.

  “It’s a very bad idea,” I say.

  She doesn’t waste time as she crosses into the apartment. I flick the lights on just in time to see her shirt drop from her hand. She turns to slide her jeans over her hips, revealing the sexiest, most delectable ass I’ve ever seen.

  My eyes dart from her feet up to a small piece of lavender lace fabric as she stands in the middle of the living room. I allow my view to linger there before I clear my throat and find that she is wearing a matching bra with the perfect set of breasts spilling out.

  “Couch? Bedroom?” I ask.

  Her eyes flicker to a door, and in one step I’m wrapping my hands in her hair as I pull her mouth against mine.

  Our lips never part as I walk her backward through the door she indicated. All while she undoes my tie and unbuttons my shirt, gliding it over my shoulders and down my arms. Once I’ve shrugged it off, she goes for my belt. Before she’s finished unhooking it, I lift her lightweight body into the air and sit back onto the bed. Her body feels like heaven as she rests down against me.

  Her hips start to grind, matching the feverish rhythm of our kissing.

  “Take your pants off,” she breathes into my mouth, barely pulling her lips from mine. My hips press up as I regrettably remove my hands from her silky body to push my pants down.

  She crawls off me, reaching into her nightstand. She pulls out a condom and, raised on her elbows against the pillows, she watches as I finish undressing. Then, slowly, I make my way across the bed till my body is above hers. The smile on her face is one I hope I see every day from this day forward. It’s the one that tells me this is exactly where I’m meant to be.

  I slide the condom on and she lies back, her legs opening for me. I shift between them, place myself at her entrance, and capture her lips with my own as I enter her.

  I rock back and forth, slowly, the heel of her foot moving against my back with each thrust. I grip the back of that same leg to bring it higher as I slide farther into her. She moans, the sound vibrating against my lips as her back bends under my touch.

  Her hands sneak their way to my ass and grab hard as she pulls me into her. The second time she does it, I speed up.

  “Yes,” she breathes into my ear. So I go faster.

  I slide in and out of her, our bodies slapping together with each thrust. Her head is back, digging into the pillow behind her, exposing her neck to me. I press my lips there while one hand braces me on one side of her head and the other reaches between us.

  “Maverick,” she says, louder this time.

  I rub my finger against her most sensitive spot and feel her walls constrict around me.

  “God damn, you feel perfect,” I say, removing my hand and turning her face to me. I seal our lips together right as that moment of ecstasy courses through my veins.

  Beth’s hands fly up to hold on to the mattress, her body stilling underneath me.

  I slow to my last thrust. Her eyes are closed, but she’s smiling. Pulling out, I roll off her and tie off the condom.

  “I really, really wish I had more than one of those right now,” she says.

  “One of what?” I ask.

  “Condoms,” she answers, her sparkling green eyes gazing up at me.

  “I’ve got us covered,” I tell her. And I do, two more times before we fall asleep.

  Chapter Nine

  Beth

  I open my eyes slowly, as if their movement might wake someone. I had sex with my partner last night and I didn’t get a single fucking thing done on our project. What am I supposed to say to Maverick now? Is he going to take me seriously? Is anyone? Is he going to tell everyone?

  I don’t move. I try not to even breathe as I lie in bed. I don’t want to chance waking him up until I know exactly what I’m going to say to him. This can’t happen again. It was a mistake … no I can’t say that. People don’t respond positively when you tell them they are a mistake. I’ve watched too many movies where that has ended badly, and since we work together … fuck. I messed this all up. What is wrong with me? Slower than a snail’s pace, I turn over to wake Maverick.

  There isn’t anyone lying next to me.

  Now I know I didn’t imagine the night. I had been drinking, yes, but I wasn’t drunk. He was here when I fell asleep and now he isn’t.

  I slip out of bed, pulling on a pair of cotton shorts and large t-shirt before I head for the kitchen. Fresh brewed coffee meets my nose before anything else. I guess if he’s going to be here in the morning, he’s got the right idea to get me some caffeine. I peek my head around the corner to find only Abby. My heart flutters a bit down into my stomach. I hadn’t realized that I was smiling till just now when I feel my smile disappear.

  Abby pauses in mid bite with her spoonful of cereal.

  “What’s wrong?” she asks and puts the spoon in her mouth before pointing at me with it. “You look sad,” she comments between bites. “And I’m sure after the opera show I heard last night, you shouldn’t be sad right now. If you are, then I really misheard every single noise.”

  I glare at her and pour myself a cup. I skip the creamer today. I need this baby strong.

  “I wasn’t aware you were home,” I say, taking the seat to her right.

  “Well, I came in just as you and Maverick disappeared behind your bedroom door. I figured you would know I was coming home since you asked as you left the bar and I replied, ‘I’ll be leaving here in like twenty minutes.’”

  “Oh.”

  “You don’t remember that?”

  “No.”

  “Ah well, I don’t think my arrival or anything else in this world was going to keep you two from coming back here last night.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, for starters, you two practically glued your faces together for thirty minutes before you finally left the bar.”

  “I what?”

  “Okay, now I think your memory is just bad, especially since I know I only served you three beers and one shot.”

  “I’m a lightweight.”

  “Yeah, by the way I caught Maverick manhandling you into your room, I figured that out.”

  “Abby.”

  “Let’s skip all the details and just get to the part where I don’t understand why you look so unhappy right now.”

  I shrug. If I knew the answer I’d consider sharing it, but I don’t, so her guess is as good as mine.

  “Do I need to march into your room and tell your sex buddy that he doesn’t know how to use his shit right?” she asks.

  “Abby!”

  “Well, do I?” Her tilted head and the tight-lipped frown means she’s serious. I kind of like that she’s ready to stick up for me. I wouldn’t let her do it even if he were in there, but the gesture is nice.

  I shake my head, finding the back of her cereal box more interesting than her pity.

  “No.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “I’m sure.” I sigh. “Even if you did it without my permission, he isn’t there.”

  “He left?”

  I nod.

  “When? I’ve been up since at least seven this morning.”

  Again, I shrug. “Not sure,” I say, taking a sip of my coffee. Black is good today.

  “What a fucking ass. Does he even know how lucky he was to be with you last night? Does he know he is the first man you let in your pants in over a year?”

  “We didn’t cover the basics, but it’s fine. This is best.”

  “Your face doesn’t say it’s best.”

  “Well, it sucks, yes, but we work together. It was a smart choice on his part to leave. We don’t need the whole hassle of things being awkward at work, especially when we have this project and my whole three-month trial depends on it. I can’t mess it up, so this good.”

  “Lies, but wh
atever.”

  I focus back on the Lucky Charm maze before finally pouring myself a bowl. I’m not going to dwell on this. If anything, I’m going to be sad that I won’t be getting any more mind-blowing sex. If that’s what I was missing, I should have considered begging that Saturday evening in Colorado. Maybe I’d have been having sex this whole time.

  No. No, I wouldn’t have, and I shouldn’t and won’t be from here on out. When I get to the office later today I’ll tell him just that. Piece of cake. It was a one-time thing to get each other out of our systems. And even though it clearly did not work for me, he doesn’t need to know that.

  Maverick

  Her heels click against the floor as she walks into her office. I hear as she walks to her desk. I listen for the noise from the wheels of her chair, but it doesn’t come. Instead, the clicking only gets louder.

  I sit up straight and adjust my tie. I shouldn’t have fucking left the way I did. But I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t slept. I only lay there and watched her sleep. I thought about what she would do in the morning, and I’ll admit, I panicked. But right now, I have a pretty good feeling she’s about to tell me how wrong my decision was. And I deserve it because I’ll be the first to admit what a jerk move I made.

  “Good morning,” she says.

  Her tone is cheerful.

  This can’t be good.

  I don’t move as I watch her step farther into my office. Yesterday morning we weren’t on speaking terms because she thought I was an ass. Last night we were having sex and now today … today it’s like everything is back to normal. To before she thought I was an ass. I don’t exactly want to ruin it, so I don’t say anything.

  “We should set up a time to go over a few of the slides this afternoon. We are a bit behind, so we have some time to make up. We also need to figure out the final arrangement for the Fourth of July event. That way we already have the schedule together for Bart at our meeting at the end of the week.”

  She smiles at me, and, honestly, it looks so … natural that I might be more freaked out than if she had come in here demanding answers. She’s not mad at me for leaving? She just wants to get to work? The woman who has always called me out for my crap. I have got to be missing something here.

  “Mav, are you okay?”

  Am I? Shit … is she? She just used my nickname.

  “Yeah, sure, let’s see what you have on your slides,” I say, playing along with whatever she is up to.

  Fooling around with her was a bad choice on my end. If anyone finds out about it, it will cost me my job. I should be glad she isn’t bringing it up, but I’m not. I’m irritated as hell that she’s acting like it never happened. I’m fucking good in bed. We were fucking good in bed. There should damn well be something to talk about.

  She’s talking about the event, which is what I should be focused on, but still, I’m not.

  “What do you think?” she asks.

  “I think we need to talk about last night.” I have no idea what she really wanted an answer to.

  Her tongue glides over her lips as she stares at the computer screen, and her chest rises slowly before she twists to look at me.

  “What about it?”

  “Well, to start, you’re acting real unusual about it.”

  “I’m acting like it didn’t happen, Maverick. You know, kind of like you did by leaving before I woke up.”

  “So you are mad about it?”

  “Let’s just get to work.” She switches the screen to the next slide.

  “You know just as well as I do that we won’t get anything done until we both stop thinking about it.”

  “Well, I’m not thinking about it, so I guess I’ll just work on this on my own.”

  “You’re not thinking about how we had sex last night and I left before you woke up?” I ask. I’m not too sure mentioning it one more time is making me look any better.

  “Clearly not as much as you are, so why don’t you tell me why you left, get it off your clearly guilty conscience, and then you can get back to focusing on work.”

  “I don’t feel guilty, I feel conflicted, and I would imagine in your position you feel the same way.”

  “Something tells me you’re more conflicted than I am.”

  Her eyes latch on to mine, and I get this swirling feeling in my gut that she’s going to ask me why I’m here. Austin has hinted about it twice now and she has yet to ask me why. Maybe she really doesn’t care why, or maybe she prefers not to know. I prefer her not to know.

  “All right. Well then, can we get back to work now?” she asks.

  I wish it were that easy for me.

  “You’re not thinking about the way I touched you?” I ask.

  Her body stills.

  “The way I kissed you.”

  She still doesn’t move.

  “Or the way I—”

  “I think we should finish this conversation in my office,” she says before I can complete my next thought.

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because my blinds are already closed and because closing yours right now would be a bit too obvious.”

  “Too obvious for what?” I ask. My heart rate picks up pace at all the reasons why she would want to be in an office with me with the blinds closed.

  “Because if you keep talking to me like that, I can’t promise I’ll control myself,” she whispers.

  That should have been my line.

  “What are you saying?” I ask. I’m prompting it when I should turn her away, but I can’t. Sleeping with her to get her off my mind didn’t work. It made it worse. And looking at her right now, where I could take her over the edge of my desk, isn’t making my next choice very clear.

  “We both have the same goal here. Let’s not mess it up. At work we will work, and when we aren’t at work … well, whatever happens stays between us,” I say.

  “But what if I can’t control myself when we’re at work?” she asks.

  “Then you’re going to have to be very, very quiet.”

  “Care to test that theory now?” she asks, backing up toward her office.

  Yep, sure am.

  I move from my seat to follow her when the last person I ever want to see steps through my door.

  “Is this another bad time?” Austin asks. I swear I could punch him in the face right now. He’s got that scheming grin on his face like he knows something he shouldn’t. And after the night at the strip club, I have no doubt that thing he knows has something to do with Beth and me. It’s clear he hasn’t volunteered this small piece of knowledge to anyone because I’m still here—had he shared it, I guarantee my father would have called me by now.

  “If you’re not here with a mock-up flyer for the event next weekend, then yeah, a better time would be to come back when you have one,” I say, returning to my desk. Beth gives me a “you can handle him this time” look and then retreats to her office.

  “How’s your side of the project going?” Austin changes the topic away from himself because, let’s face it, he more than likely didn’t do his part and it’s a good thing Beth planned ahead for that. She’s good at this job. Almost too good, and it puts me off a bit. I thought this would be the easiest job I’ve ever had. But it’s not. I feel like I have no control over myself or what I’m doing anymore.

  Chapter Ten

  Beth

  I stuff my purse behind the bar as I prepare for my Friday night shift at the BA. This last week with Maverick has been torture and in the complete opposite way that working with Austin is torture. How we managed to resist each other—not an easy task, I might add—is beyond me. But somehow, we did it and right now, I’m thankful to be working somewhere with no stress and no sexual frustration.

  “Hey girl, is work going any better?” Sky asks. Luke walks in behind her and slaps her ass before clocking in on the computer. Sky giggles but at the same time acts like it’s the most natural action in the world even though she’s aware people can see them. If Maverick did
that to me at the office, I’d probably freak out and be mortified to show my face again for a day or two. Then again, the environment here versus there is not even close to the same.

  I give her the short answer. “Work is going good.” Sky laughs at something Luke says and then she shoves him as he wanders back to the storage room.

  So, this is what it would look like if Maverick and I could show our feelings at work. Not that I really know there are any to show other than the fact we want to shred each other’s clothes every time we see each other.

  “Just good. That’s it?” she prompts me.

  I’m not sure what I should say. Maverick and I slept together only once and I already have myself in a fucking mind mess at my big-girl job. I really should start acting more grown up.

  “The project is going good. I like what I’m doing there. It will be great to see how everything comes together next weekend. You and Luke are still planning to come, right?” I ask.

  “Yep, we sure are. I’m excited too to see what you’ve done.” She flashes me a smile. “As hard as you’ve been working, I know it will be great.”

  “Ha, no pressure or anything.” I chuckle and start making drinks as orders come in off the printer.

  “How are things with Maverick?” Sky pinches her lips together as she stocks the cherry tub in front of her, but she doesn’t look at me.

  “What do you know?” I ask. Shit, who all saw us here the other night?

  “Enough to know that it’s been a month since you started this job and you are still interested in the same guy, and that’s a big deal.”

  “I think you heard wrong. Maverick’s still around because I work with him. That’s all.”

  “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that,” she says.

  I’m not so sure either, but I’m not telling her that.

  “So what happens when this job is over and they can select only one person? What will you two do then?” she asks.

  I keep my focus on the beer taps in front of me. I hadn’t really thought of it. I mean, only one of us will be employed, but as far as me and Maverick, I don’t know. Will he leave?