My Bossy Protector: A Best Friend’s Brother Romance

by Charlize Starr

  At midnight, my phone beeped and I hoped it was Simon. I was dying to speak to him. Had he changed his mind? Did he want to come see me?

  But it was Marco. I felt like crying.

  Are you sleeping, babe? I can’t sleep, knowing that you’re so near to me. Near enough to touch.

  A chill ran down my spine. I switched my phone off and buried my face in my pillow. I’d already double-checked all the windows and doors in my apartment, but I still wasn’t sure that he couldn’t get in. Marco was quite capable of breaking into my apartment if he really wanted to.

  There was no way I was getting any sleep tonight.

  ***

  The next day at work, I walked into the office feeling goosebumps on my arms. The others were in their usual cheerful mood, and I tried to make conversation. But my attention kept drifting to Simon’s closed door. I knew he was in the office already, but I hadn’t seen him yet.

  I could have made up an excuse to go see him, but I didn’t want to take the first step. After all, he was the one who’d pulled himself away after the kiss. I could sense that he still wasn’t sure about me. Just like he wasn’t four years ago.

  But when I was least expecting him to, he turned up at the door of my office.

  “Ivy, can I speak to you?” he asked and started walking away immediately.

  I got up and followed him to his office and shut the door behind us.

  Simon walked over to his desk and shook his head. “I feel like all I’ve been doing since you got here is apologizing to you for my behavior,” he began.

  I stared at him in wonder, craving his body – his lips on me again. “You shouldn’t have kissed me if you didn’t want to,” I told him, keeping my voice firm. “Just like you shouldn’t have kissed me the first time.”

  Simon looked up at me. His green eyes were darkened. He had his lips pursed together and he sighed. “That’s the thing, Ivy. It’s not that I don’t want to kiss you. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite.”

  His words had an immediate effect on me. I felt weak and wobbly in my knees. This was what I’d been waiting for all my life. For Simon Hutch to admit that he wanted me. It was like a dream come true . . . Every fantasy being lived.

  My voice was caught in my throat, and I remained frozen to the spot as he took long steps towards me.

  “I’m sorry if that upsets you, Ivy,” he said.

  I tried to shake my head, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move at all. He was standing over me, glaring down at me with narrowed eyes.

  “It doesn’t upset me. Why should it?” I squeaked as I tried to meet his eyes.

  Simon lifted a hand up to my cheek, brushing it gently with the back of his fingers. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?” he asked.

  I gulped. This had to be a dream!

  “You should go before I do something crazy,” he grunted.

  Why did he keep doing this? Why was he always pushing me away? My face was pinched with emotion and I turned to leave, but I felt his arm around my waist and he pulled me to himself with a thud.

  “I’ve changed my mind,” he growled.

  His lips enclosed mine and I gasped, wrapping my arms around his neck. I could feel his heart beating wildly against my chest while his tongue entered my mouth. This time, the kiss was soft and slow. He was taking his time with it, and I felt dizzy and dazed. I was wet between my legs with desire, every nerve in my body soaring. His tongue slipped in and out of my mouth as I sank into him, melting into his body joyfully.

  Feeling out of breath, I gently pried my lips away from his. I looked into his eyes and Simon sighed.

  “You should get back to work Ivy. I have a busy day,” he stated.

  I licked my lips, still tasting him. I nodded and stepped away from him, peeling myself off his body.

  Neither of us said another word. I stepped out of his office, doing a quick check of my clothes to make sure everything was in place. At least this time he didn’t apologize to me for the kiss. That brought a smile to my face as I returned to my desk.

  Was it possible that Simon had feelings for me just like I did? It was a far-fetched thought, but a girl could dream! I knew my work-day was officially ruined!

  Chapter 15 - Simon

  Now that I’d kissed Ivy once, I couldn’t stop kissing her. The last time, I had the chance to run away to California to get away from my need to have her. Now, there was no chance of that.

  She was in my office. Right in the middle of my whole world. I couldn’t go back on the promise I made to Shay to see Ivy through her internship.

  The whole day while I worked, I could sense her presence around me. That kiss was explosive and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I kept myself locked in my office. I didn’t even step out during lunch hour. I didn’t want to have to face her again because I wasn’t sure of what I’d do.

  At seven, when everyone else had started to leave, I stepped out of the office and found Ivy at the end of the hallway. She was in a conversation with Mick, and I could see that they were standing very close together. I felt an immediate surge of jealousy in my body again. I stormed towards them while Ivy laughed at something Mick had said.

  “What’s going on?” I growled, interrupting their conversation.

  They turned to me. Ivy looked away embarrassedly while Mick looked confused. He had no idea why I was reacting this way.

  “Just going over some notes, Boss. Ivy has been rooting through our figures and she’s come up with some pretty cool charts we can use on the investor’s day,” Mick explained. He glanced at Ivy again, and from the smile on his face, I could tell that he liked her. He more than just casually liked her.

  I looked at my watch. “Well, it’s past seven. You shouldn’t be keeping our employees this late. Go on. You can talk about it tomorrow,” I commanded.

  Mick looked at Ivy again, then shrugged and said goodbye before walking away. Ivy hadn’t moved. She remained standing in front of me with her eyes cast down on her shoes. It was only after the elevator doors had shut on Mick that she looked up to me.

  “You didn’t have to reprimand him for keeping me. He wasn’t. I just lost track of time working on those charts,” she said.

  I clenched my jaws as I stared at her. She had no idea how jealous it made me to see her with another man.

  “Everyone leaves the office by six-thirty. Seven at the latest,” I snapped.

  “Unless they’re being punished and being made to stay back by you?” she asked, meeting my eyes.

  I gulped and looked at my watch again. She made me nervous – I had no idea why. I had the ability to not lose my cool in a boardroom full of hardened businessmen, but talking to Ivy for a minute made me break out in a sweat.

  “That was different. In any case, you should be going home now,” I told her.

  Ivy still didn’t make a move to go. She was tempting me by just standing there. “Yes, I guess I should. So should you,” she whispered and looked around the empty floor. We were the only two people in the building. “Unless you want me to stay?” she asked. Her voice was fading. She looked at me with glittering green eyes. She was asking me the same question again. The one she’d asked four years ago. It had taken all my strength to turn her away that time, but this time, I felt helpless under the power of her eyes.

  I reached for her and she fell on me. My lips were on hers, and she moaned and gasped as I kissed her violently. I undid her hair and her curls came tumbling down around her shoulders. She threw her arms around my neck and I lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist and we continued kissing like this was the last thing we were going to do on Earth.

  I carried her in my arms all the way to my office and kicked the door shut with my foot. Ivy smelled beautiful; she tasted sweet. I knew I couldn’t get enough of her.

  I carried her to my desk and put her down on it, her legs dangling over the edge. I took a step back to look at her. At the way her breasts were heaving under her shirt, the tightness of
her pencil skirt, her delicate shoulders and smoldering eyes.

  “Are you sure about this, Ivy?” I asked, already beginning to undo the buttons of my shirt.

  She gulped and then nodded. “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life,” she replied. Her voice was sizzling.

  I flipped my shirt open and undid my belt, stepping up to her again quickly. I started taking off her shirt while I kissed her. I was going to see Ivy Soleman naked. The body I had dreamed about and fantasized for so long – I was finally going to see it bare, in all its naked glory.

  Ivy kissed me shyly as her clothes started coming off – her shirt, then her skirt and her bra. Then she was sitting on the edge of my desk in nothing but her pink lace panties. I had to step back to look at her again. My brain was reeling from the shock of seeing her like this: her strawberry blond curls tumbling down over her shoulders, gently grazing her pebbled rosy nipples.

  She bit down on her lip, her cheeks flushing and glowing. “Come to me, Simon. I’ve been waiting for you,” she said in a husky voice.

  I was a goner. There was no hope for me. No matter how hard I tried, I would never be able to come back from this. Ivy Soleman had me eating out of the palm of her hand, and she knew it.

  Chapter 16 - Ivy

  I was naked, and I had never felt this naked before. Simon was standing in front of me, his shirt open so I could see his chiseled abs. It made me drool with desire. I knew my panties were soaking wet. I wanted him closer. I wanted him to touch me.

  When I parted my lips, he lunged at me. He flattened me down on his desk, covering my torso with his body. He’d wedged himself between my legs while he kissed my neck. His mouth traveled down to my breasts as he licked my sensitive, aching nipples. I cried out with joy, weaving my fingers in his hair. Nothing had ever felt so good. I pressed my eyes closed, trying to savor the moment. He started sucking on my nipple and I moaned. His wet mouth on the most sensitive part of my body — that was all I needed to be pushed right to the edge of an orgasm.

  I flipped his shirt down his arms that so I could finally feel the strength of his biceps. He had a muscular, athletic body, and when I looked down, I could see his cock tenting his pants.

  “Simon . . . ” I whispered his name. He pulled his mouth away from my breasts to look up at me.

  “Is this what you wanted, Ivy?” he grunted and I nodded. A soft smile cracked across my lips. This was exactly what I wanted.

  Simon’s hand traveled up my legs, feeling the smoothness of my skin. He found the wet swollen mound under my panties and started stroking. I gasped, arching my back and thrusting my hips up towards him. We’d crossed the line long ago, and now we weren’t thinking about the consequences. All that mattered was how good his hand felt on me.

  I started pulling down his pants while he rubbed me. Inch by inch, as his pants fell down his legs, his big, erect cock was revealed to me. It was throbbing with a red tip . . . muscular and powerful. I wasn’t sure if I could even fit him, but I wanted him. I wanted the full length of him inside me.

  He rolled down my panties, throwing them to the floor. There was no hiding from him. He could see me completely naked, and I was all his for the taking.

  He rubbed my clit again, his fingers slipping and sliding in my sticky juices. I tried to reach for him, but he placed a hand on my belly, pushing me back down on the desk. He wanted to do what he wanted with me. I wasn’t allowed to do anything. I squealed and wriggled while his fingers stroked my pussy. I could feel him slipping into me little by little until his forefinger was finally completely inside me.

  Simon Hutch was inside me. A part of him was, and it felt like every fantasy coming true.

  “Please . . . ” I murmured, and he looked up at me again. I was bursting at the seams. Every part of me was screaming to be taken.

  “I want you inside me,” I said.

  He grinned while his eyes remained narrowed and dark. “Then that is what you’ll get,” he said, and with one hand, he grabbed his bulging cock. I held my breath, waiting for the moment he’d be inside me.

  He guided himself in, parting my pussy little by little. I grabbed on to the edges of the desk with both hands, keeping myself flat. I could feel the pressure and length of him thrusting in until, finally, he was inside.

  “Oh my god!” I screamed, my eyes rolling back in my head as he started pumping.

  The desk shook with the force of his movement. I called out his name and he murmured mine. It felt like a dream, having Simon inside me. His cock stroked the deepest core of me, where an orgasm was waiting to happen. While he pounded me with his cock repeatedly, in and out, sliding and pushing, his finger stroked my clit. It was too much to bear.

  “I’m going to come!” I screamed just as I felt myself explode.

  My juices trickled out of my pussy while he kept pumping. When he jerked and growled, I knew that he was going to come too. I stared at him in a daze, my mouth parted with the pleasure of my overwhelming orgasm. I could feel him shooting inside me, his seed emptying into me while he continued to stroke my clit.

  It felt like hours before we were finally done. My orgasm began to fade and Simon pulled himself out of me gently. He staggered backward, his wide shoulders heaving from the exertion.

  I thought I could still feel him inside me, filling me up.

  “Sorry, I don’t think I have any towels here,” he said, bending forward to start picking up my clothes.

  “It’s okay,” I replied, covering my breasts with my hands. He collected all my clothes and handed them back to me. I felt like I was still in a daze. I was too dumbfounded to say anything.

  After all these years, it had finally happened. Simon and I had sex.

  Was it over now? Was that all that was meant to happen? One moment of losing control and now we could go back to leading separate lives?

  He started dressing quickly and I began to do the same. Neither of us was speaking. I couldn’t even look at him.

  What would Shay say? She wouldn’t appreciate the fact that I’d slept with her brother after all these years of pretending that I’d gotten over him.

  I put on my clothes while he stood with his back turned to me.

  “I’m going to go now,” I said, hoping that he would stop me. That he might give me some hint that he wanted me to stay.

  “I’ll walk you to your car,” he offered.

  “No, it’s fine. I don’t need you to,” I told him.

  Chapter 17 - Simon

  I couldn’t get Ivy out of my head. After she left, I just sat in the office for another hour, trying to get over what had just happened. How was I supposed to get any work done around here now? All I could see in this room was Ivy, her naked body on my desk, her breasts, her sweet tight pussy. I felt lost and in a daze.

  No other woman had felt like her in my arms. And no other woman was going to be good enough. I could remember every move she made, every breath she took. The sound of my name on her lips was ringing in my ears. I wanted her again.

  I somehow managed to get back to my apartment, but I didn’t sleep that night. The next morning, I was the first one at work. I was looking out of my window constantly, trying to catch a glimpse of Ivy arriving.

  When she did, I watched her getting out of her car and rushing to the front doors of the building. She was in a casual black dress, her hair down around her shoulders. I felt the urge to go and speak to her right away, to intercept her on the way up and kiss her in the elevator.

  I was struggling with my own conscience. Taking things any further with Ivy could be disastrous. I knew she could never forgive me for leaving her like that, and I didn’t think I was good enough for her. Also, any sort of relationship with Ivy could cause a serious rift between me and Shay. I knew Shay wouldn’t approve. She had seen me in my bad relationships with other girls. Shay knew exactly the kind of man I was. I would never be good enough for her best friend. Being with Ivy would just be wrong.

  I waited half an hour bef
ore I stepped out of my office. I could hear voices in the cafeteria, so that’s where I went.

  As always, the other guys were surrounding Ivy at the coffee machine. They looked up when I walked in, but none of them really moved. It was like they were all trying to lay their claim on her.

  Seething rage and jealousy coursed through my veins. I couldn’t stand the thought that Ivy might be entertaining their advances. She looked like she was enjoying the attention . . . and right after we had sex in my office!

  I moved towards them as she caught my eye. She looked embarrassed again, the tips of her ears turning red. Some of the guys moved away, and with the way I charged through them, trying to reach the coffee machine, I made it pretty clear to them that I wanted them gone.

  Ivy stirred the sugar in her coffee while I waited by the machine. Some of the other guys were still talking to her while she smiled and made small-talk.

  What was wrong with me? I’d never felt this kind of jealousy regarding any other woman I slept with. Usually, I didn’t care what they were up to after the sex was over. With Ivy, I couldn’t stop fuming with envy.

  “You have a moment?” I snapped.

  She was in the middle of saying something to one of the guys when she turned to me. “Of course, Simon,” she replied casually.

  The others looked at me, confused by my strange behavior. I glared back at them. I wished I could just tell them directly – stay away from Ivy! But the truth was that I had no claim over her.

  Collecting my coffee mug, I moved away to the windows of the cafeteria. She followed me there.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, searching my eyes.

  “I was wondering if you wanted to go for a drink with me,” I said, sipping my coffee as casually as I could. It wasn’t like I had this speech prepared. I had no idea this was what I was going to say to her. The words just came spilling out of my mouth.