I didn’t want to hear all this. Listening to him detail just how much he loved her was ripping my heart out. The woman had everything I’d wanted my whole life, the job, the man, a proposal, probably even kids too. I hated her with everything inside me. Absolutely despised her.
Because I knew the story was about to go south. She had it all and threw it away.
“My mom was thrilled. It didn’t feel right, but I knew I had to do it. I never even told Xander I’d proposed to her. I knew what he would say.”
He paused and collected himself. He ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes as though he was reliving something all over again. It was going to hurt to hear it.
“Once the chase was over, Brandi didn’t care anymore. She didn’t do anything about wedding plans, she started going out with her single friends again, she even tried to talk me out of starting XD. She thought it would take too much time away from us and that it would cost too much. But she was the one pulling away. I told Xander I wasn’t sure about XD anymore because I wanted to make Brandi happy, no matter what.”
He heaved a breath and turned away from me. He ran his hand through his hair and faced the windows and the view of Winter Ridge. His shoulders relaxed for a second, then he started to talk again.
“When I went home that night, after talking to Xander, I heard noises. I didn’t know what it was, but I figured Brandi was looking at wedding stuff. She’d mentioned she found a dress she liked and I wondered if she’d bought it and was trying it on or something since the bedroom door was closed. I was tired and wanted to change so I went down the hall and knocked so she could hide in the bathroom while I changed, but when I knocked she sounded out of breath. I told her I just needed to change but… a man’s voice told me to leave.”
Oh, shit. Mandy was right.
“I pounded on the locked door until Brandi opened it up. The guy was gone but I knew what I’d heard. She insisted it was just her and that she had a sore throat, but I didn’t buy it.”
He ran his hand through his hair. “I stayed with her. Even though I doubted her story, I loved her too much to let myself believe she would have cheated on me. I knew what we had was real and she wouldn’t throw it away. She was the one who wanted to get married so why would she cheat on me? About a month later I came home and found her sitting in the living room. She looked serious. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she was leaving me. She decided getting married wasn’t right for her because she felt I wasn’t serious. Brandi told me she thought I didn’t really want to marry her and she refused to be trapped in a marriage where she wasn’t loved completely.”
Drew took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. “She called off the wedding but put all the blame on me. I wanted to marry her. I was planning to spend my life with her and she walked away. She wouldn’t even let me argue. Her three carat engagement ring sat on the coffee table and she said when I was ready to commit to her that she would be willing to take it back. Then she walked out.”
Holy shit. It was worse than I’d ever imagined. No wonder Mandy hated her. Brandi was a manipulative bitch.
“Have you seen her since?”
Drew shook his head. “No. I called her every day for a month then quit. My mom basically stopped talking to me for a while. Everyone thought I was a jerk. It’s been almost six months. Every week my mom tells me what a mistake I made by letting her get away.”
“Why did you tell me all this, Drew?” I had to know. Just because I asked didn’t seem like enough of a reason. There had to be more to it.
“It’s been a rough six months. Most of the time I’ve hated myself. Xander and this company have been the only things that have kept me from completely losing it. When Brandi walked out I realized giving up my dream would have been the stupidest thing I could have done. I’ve thrown myself into making XD Home Restoration a success. At first it was to piss her off. As we started to make XD a reality I realized I wanted to do it to prove to her I could. To show her I was serious about my future, our future. The night I met you, that changed. The only time I’ve ever been able to completely forget her, to feel like myself again, was when I’m with you.”
Tears sprung to my eyes. Instead of the broken and beaten man I’d expected to hear about, he told me I was the reason for his healing. I was making it better.
“In the last few weeks Brandi has been on my mind less and less. Instead of wanting to prove something to her, I don’t care what she thinks. And when I asked what you wanted last week… I didn’t want the reminder of her when I was with you. Working with you has been borderline torture for me. You’re great to work with, but beyond that…” His eyes turned mischievous, devilish. My whole body tingled with the obvious desire he was showing me.
No, he wasn’t declaring he was in love with me. He was basically telling me I was a rebound, exactly what I didn’t want to be. But being without him was becoming too hard to resist. I wasn’t strong enough anymore.
I had to stop living my life for someone else. It was time I grabbed ahold of what I wanted and didn’t let go. Drew was healing, but in a way we all were. No one could say they’d never had a bad break-up that left them reeling for months, if not years. Just because Drew was still getting over Brandi didn’t mean things couldn’t work out between us. At least for a while.
As if sensing the decision I’d made, Drew leaned down and captured my lips. His kiss ignited everything I’d been feeling for the last month as the heat settled between my legs. Drew’s hands rested on the arms of my chair, but my hands went up to settle on his chest.
Firm muscles coated in soft cotton met my fingers. I let my hands explore the body I’d only begun to experience weeks ago. Heat and passion filled me, making me brave. My hands drifted over him, outlining the muscles of his chest, trailing down to his abs, then traveling back up to caress his shoulders. When I reached behind and cupped his ass he growled then dragged me off my chair and against his hard body.
Hard. Every. Where.
“My office. Now,” he demanded when he broke our kiss. He held my hand and pulled me down the hall to his office.
Inside deja vu took over as Drew pinned me to the backside of the door the second he had it locked. His hands came down and cupped my ass, holding me tight against him. I rubbed against him like a cat with a scratching post and he spun me around until I was leaning against his desk.
“I feel like a horny teenager with you,” he said sheepishly. “I need to have you. Now.”
“Do you have condoms this time?”
Drew walked around to the other side of his desk and yanked open the top drawer so hard it clattered onto the floor. He dug through the drawer and produced a string of condoms.
“That should do for today,” I teased him with a glance toward the clock.
His eyes darkened and he groaned. With a swipe of his arm, the surface of his desk was cleared, except his monitor, and he vaulted over it.
It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. Hands. Fucking. Down.
His lips were on mine the next second, teasing my lips apart with his tongue. I eagerly opened for him and pulled his body tight against me so I could rub against him again. The pressure between my legs was becoming unbearable and I needed him to get to the main event.
Drew pulled away from our kiss to suckle my neck. He whispered in my ear, “Someone’s a little eager.”
I whimpered a response and he chuckled then rubbed his erection against me.
I nearly came apart.
“On the desk, baby,” Drew whispered. His hands went to my hips and he lifted me with ease onto the edge of his desk. He positioned himself between my legs and laid over top of me, pressing my back onto the cool surface. Drew’s lips trailed from my jaw down my neck to the tops of my breasts, which he somehow exposed.
My button down shirt laid spread wide. Drew looked down at me with awe and whispered, “So beautiful.” His tongue teased my breasts before he popped one nipple out of my bra and closed his
lips over it.
I moaned and writhed beneath him as he brought me closer and closer to the edge with just his lips and tongue on my nipples. I’d never been particularly sensitive there, but no one had ever shown them so much attention either. It was delicious and sexy and the second hottest sexual experience of my life.
Second only to the first time Drew and I were together.
Drew’s hand slid down my side and anchored my hip to the desk. I arched against him, trying to get him to go where I needed him to. Sensing my intentions, he smiled against my breast and nipped me. “I’ve waited nearly a month to have you. I’m going to take my time.”
“Take your time later. Right now I need to fucking come.”
My words snapped something inside him and within seconds my skirt was around my hips, my teal thong was gone, and his jeans were on the floor. I watched as he rolled a condom down his long length. He pulled me to the edge of the desk and propped my feet up next to my hips so I was open for him.
I felt him at my entrance, teasing my overly sensitive flesh. My hips bounced with his movements until he sunk inside me fully. I moaned at the feel of him deep within my body, filling me completely. He leaned over me, our bodies melting together. “Can you come like this?”
I bit my lip and shook my head. “I never have before,” I admitted.
Drew’s determined look told me he was going to try.
His body moved slowly along mine, his hips drifting away before meeting mine again. The simmer my body had been on was still there, but it was fading. Disappointment flooded me as I realized sex with Drew was not going to be nearly as good as not sex with Drew had been.
He watched me intently. His eyes searched my face and I saw the tension in his. “Get that bored look off your beautiful face. I’m going to fuck you so good all you’ll be able to do is grin for the next week,” he growled.
I cocked my eyebrow at him in challenge and he smirked back at me. “I knew you’d like dirty talk. Every time I talked to you last time you moaned louder. I thought for sure we were going to get caught. But this time… There’s no one here to hear your screams. And dammit, I’m gonna make you scream, Carrie.”
He thrust harder into me as he spoke the last sentence. My head spun with the feeling, the simmer turning up to a low heat.
“Oh, you like that, don’t you? I knew you’d like it hard and fast.”
He crashed into me, sending me reeling all over again. I started to moan and move with him, my hips meeting his stroke for stroke. He leaned over me again and clasped one of my bouncing breasts in his hand, rolling my taut nipple between his rough fingers. The feel sent lightning bolts straight to where we were joined and my heart pounded under his hand.
“I love watching your breasts bounce. Every time our bodies meet your breasts move and it makes me harder watching those beautiful tits mimic our movements. One day I’m going to make you come just touching those. But for today, oh today you’re going to come from my cock alone.”
“Drew,” slipped past my lips as my body tightened around him.
“Oh, there we go, baby. I want to hear it. I want to hear how loud you get when you come. I’ve been dreaming about hearing you again, about making you scream while I was inside you. I’m not stopping until you scream, Carrie.”
“Oh, Drew,” I moaned louder. My body was under his control. I couldn’t feel my legs, my arms, anything… except Drew. I felt every slide of his body within mine, every pinch of his fingers on my nipple, every press of his lips against my neck.
I was close. So close it was almost painful. I wanted to lose myself, to forget everything except Drew. His voice slipped through the fog.
“Come for me, Carrie. Now, baby. Come hard. Let me be the only man to fuck it out of you. Now, Carrie. Scream my name. NOW!”
He bellowed the last word with me. My words blended together but his name was the word I said the most. Our bodies slammed together, shaking the desk and nearly toppling his monitor. I reached up to grab something, anything, to anchor me. My head was spiraling into nothing and my body was going right along with it in the most amazing orgasm of my life.
My hand connected with Drew’s and he wrapped our fingers together. He grabbed my other hand and lifted them both to the sides of my head. Drew leaned over me, his body colliding with mine as our hands gripped each other. “Beautiful, so fucking hot,” Drew whispered right before he yelled my name. I felt his erection expand then pump into me.
My body throbbed with pleasure. After a moment Drew collapsed on top of me, his head nestled just under my chin. I wrapped my legs around him and felt him stir within me. He groaned then kissed my neck. “You smell so good.”
I snorted. I was covered in sweat and probably smelled like an old gym sock. Then again, he was sweaty and he smelled like heaven.
“Thank you,” he said as he stood, looking mighty proud of himself. He slipped out of me and I immediately felt the loss. The way he was looking at me I knew this was a one time thing for him. Where I’d started to imagine a relationship, he was interested in a fling.
Not even. A one night stand.
“We both got the good end of that one. I think I might head out early tonight. If you’re okay with that. Unless you’ve got something for me to do.”
“No, you just did it,” he said seductively. I smiled in spite of myself as he handed me my panties. I got my clothes put back together then walked out of his office, again feeling like I’d just screwed up.
“Carrie!” Drew called when I was halfway back to my desk.
I spun on my heel and plastered on a smile. “Yeah?”
He jogged over to me and fidgeted. He never fidgeted. Shit. Now he was going to fire me.
“I, uh… We probably shouldn’t tell Xander about this. You know… about us.”
“Sure, no problem,” I said. Drew nodded then winked at me. He went back to his office and I went to mine. In less than a minute I was driving home with tears filling my eyes.
Eight
The next day at work Drew acted normal again. He talked to me, flirted a little, and treated me the same way he had my first few days. I guess he got his attraction out of his system and he was good to go.
Too bad I wasn’t.
I walked into his office at one point to have him sign off on a final report and my knees nearly buckled with the desire coursing through me. I couldn’t look at his desk without imagining him sprawled over top of me and both of us screaming the other’s name.
Drew, seemingly unaffected, smiled up at me and asked the person on the phone to hold on.
“How late will you be here tonight?” he said with his hand over the phone’s speaker.
“Not late. Tuesday is girls’ night. Did you need me to do something?” Xander knocked on the door behind me.
“They’re here for the meeting. Did you tell her yet?”
I looked from one to the other, wondering what they were talking about. Neither of them looked too unhappy so I hoped the news was good, or at least not bad. Drew told whoever he was talking to that he would call them back and they both laughed when I held up my hands.
“No,” Drew finally said, hanging up the phone. “I didn’t tell her.”
“Tell me what?” I demanded.
“We got a call today from the city. They want to restore the old city hall. They asked us to bid on it.”
“That’s great, right?” I asked tentatively. They didn’t look as thrilled as I felt. A project like that could bring in more business than they could handle. Why weren’t they more excited?
“It’s great,” Xander began.
“But if we don’t get it we could lose business,” Drew finished.
“How? Won’t people be excited you were asked to bid?”
Xander shook his head. “Some will, but most will see us as not good enough and won’t want to work with us when there’s someone better in town.”
“Do you know who else was asked to bid?”
Drew shook
his head. “No. It doesn’t really matter though. We have a pretty good guess. Regardless, we’re going to do our best. If we get this project it’ll mean we’re secure. It’ll be huge for us, especially just starting out.”
“Let me know if there’s anything I can help you with.”
They exchanged a quick glance that I couldn’t interpret and nodded. “We should get in there for the meeting. Are you joining us, Carrie?”
I shook my head. “No, I’ll be gone before you guys are done. It’s Tuesday.”
“Oh, right. Mandy’ll be there but I’ll probably still be here for a while. Hey, are you okay?”
I glanced at Drew unconsciously and noticed surprise on his face. It could have been he was shocked Xander noticed something was wrong or because he asked, but I wasn’t going to give them anything.
“Yeah, I’m good. You guys have a good night.”
I walked out before they could say anything else and gathered my things. With both of them in a meeting I knew they didn’t care if I left a bit early. It would be nice to run home and change into something more comfortable, like my sweatpants, before going to girls’ night. Plus, I was getting hungry and wanted dinner first.
As I shut down my computer my phone rang. Whoever it was probably wouldn’t take long, but I hoped it wasn’t a new client since my computer was already off.
“Good afternoon. XD Home Restoration. This is Carrie. How may I help you?”
“You can stay away from my son, that’s how,” the voice said angrily. “He’s in love with someone else.”
“I’m sorry, who is this?” I was genuinely confused. Who the hell thought I was doing something with her son? And who had a mother that was so involved in his life? I sort of felt bad for whoever she thought she had on the other line. Not only would that mother take a lot of convincing that they were right for each other, but she would also make their lives a living hell.
“Don’t play dumb with me, missy. I heard Drew ask what you were doing tonight. If you think you can steal him away from Brandi you’ve got another thing coming. He’s still in love with her and you’re not going to change that.”
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