By Your Side (New York City Fixers Book 2)

by Ally Decker

  You look beautiful like this, he would have told her otherwise.

  I love it when you laugh.

  I want to see how well our bodies fit together, how good you feel against me.

  I wish I could kiss you right now.

  "We should do this again," was what he said in the end, after swallowing everything else. It was dangerous, too, but nowhere close to all the other things he would have said.

  Alicia tilted her head. "Dance?"

  "Go to a party like this," Shawn said, looking around the room to avoid staring right at her. "If you'd like to, of course. I'm fine going alone, too."

  She frowned as he was talking, but it was there one second and gone the next, and then she smiled before nodding. "We can do that again, sure."

  He did not breathe easier after that. No way.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Alicia knew she should have said no. She was fully aware for the entire time, even as she was saying yes, that the smarter and safer option was to say no.

  Shawn wouldn't have minded. It wasn't like he was dying to go with her to any of those events. She was just there and it wouldn't be dating with her...

  Yeah, that one still hurt. And if she was any smarter, she would have said no the first time and definitely the second time.

  She apparently wasn't very smart.

  "You are hopeless," Macey told her with a sigh as she wriggled in the armchair until her legs were draped over one arm.

  Alicia slumped down on the couch. "I know."

  "Like, are you a masochist or something? There are easier ways, you know."

  "Thanks a lot," she muttered putting a pillow over her face.

  "Working there, I get. A girl needs to sleep, eat, and dress. And our rent isn't cheap, either. But hanging out with him outside of work? Going for freaking scones? Taking him to your family's gym?"

  Alicia threw the pillow in Macey's direction. "I know, okay?"

  "Slippery slope, and now this? A date that's not a date? What the freaking hell?"

  "You're not helping."

  "And what, other than perhaps a lobotomy, would help you right now?"

  Shawn falling in love with me would help. Alicia bit her lower lip and closed her eyes against the sudden tightness in her chest. She should really stop with those fantasies. She should really just...stop.

  "That's the last one." She sat up suddenly and faced her best friend. "The last one. No more. No more not-dates or anything else. Nothing outside work. After Friday, I'm done."

  Macey narrowed her eyes at her. "You're done?"

  "Yes."

  "Friday is the last time and then you stop."

  "Yes."

  "Twenty bucks say you're not going to make it."

  Alicia opened her mouth, but for a moment, nothing came out. "Well, thanks a lot." She fell back against the cushions and crossed her arms against her chest. "Your support's really helping me out here."

  Macey shrugged as she grabbed all her dreadlocks and tossed them behind her shoulders before she leaned closer to Alicia and tugged at her foot.

  "Twenty bucks is additional motivation. If you win, you win, and I'll happily pay twenty for that. You lose, and we have money for the booze to drown our sorrows in until the next time."

  "Twenty and a month of dishes." Alicia was not joking around. She needed to make a serious effort, and there was nothing more serious than doing the dishes for a month.

  Macey's eyes widened, and she hesitated, but then she nodded slowly. Then she reached out her hand to Alicia. "Shake on it."

  Alicia clasped her hand, and they shook hard.

  There was no coming back now. Friday was the last night she was going to spend in fantasy land, dreaming about Prince Charming.

  ***

  Another good reason for telling Shawn no to any future invitations was the fact that her choice of evening wear was pretty limited. She had three dresses for occasions like that, and Shawn had seen her in two of them—the blue one, her favorite, last week, and the black one at the holiday party last year. Her third choice was a dress she hadn't worn in a long time, one that was perhaps too tight and too revealing for anything that wasn't a date she hoped would end in sex.

  I wish.

  She would've given a lot for even one night with Shawn, but as much as she hoped and wished, it was extremely unlikely. But she had promised herself one last night of hope, so…

  "Niiice," Macey told her when she saw her come out of her bedroom. "If that doesn't hit him in the heart, it will definitely hit him in his dick."

  Alicia half-groaned, half-laughed. "Shut up."

  "I'm just saying," her best friend told her as she draped herself over the back of the couch to watch Alicia put on her shoes and coat. "You look amazing, and boss or not, he's going to notice. Hell, everyone will notice."

  "Stop it, or I'll talk myself out of it." Alicia didn't mind making an impression, especially on Shawn, but she didn't want to draw too much attention to herself, either. She nervously pushed the dress a little up over her breasts. The neckline was really flattering to her, but also really revealing if she didn't watch it. She forgot how this dress had a tendency to pull down when she moved too much.

  She gathered her things and left, waving at Macey.

  "I won't wait up!" Alicia heard right before she closed the door, and she chuckled to herself.

  She took a deep breath right before she walked out of the building, knowing Shawn was already waiting.

  Their gazes met, and even from the distance across the sidewalk, she didn't miss the way his eyes widened. The look he gave her, the unmistakable once-over, sent heat all over her body.

  It gave her the confidence she needed as she walked up to his car and smiled at him.

  "Ready?" she asked, and for a split second she could see a flash of something in his eyes, something that told her she was toying with a lighter right next to the match. Could they really…?

  "Let's do this," he told her, opening the back door and maybe, perhaps, he meant more than simply going out.

  As she was getting into the car, she could feel his eyes on her, and she bit her lower lip to try and suppress the want running right under her skin. They hadn't even done anything yet. They might not do anything at all. She shouldn't react so strongly just because of an appreciative look from an attractive man.

  But for the first time since they had shaken hands in the office, and she went Oh no as her pulse quickened in reaction, Alicia had real hope that there was a chance for something to happen between them. And she was ready to throw caution to the wind if that was true—if she actually could get Shawn Foster to touch her with intent, to kiss her, and fuck her in any of all the ways she had dreamed about for over a year now.

  ***

  Shawn would not stop touching her, and Alicia was going crazy. A lingering hand on her back, still on a respectable level but definitely lower than a week before, as he led her to the museum's entrance. A brush of his fingers on her neck as he helped her out of her coat. A hand on her back again, this time over naked skin...

  This one made her bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from making any sound. His cold fingers should not feel this good against the warmth of her back.

  And he was oddly quiet, the bastard. He usually talked a lot, and she liked it. She liked the sound of his voice, and he managed the neat trick of being interesting and funny even when talking about something ordinary. But now he barely said anything at all, and she had no escape from thinking about how he was driving her crazy.

  She hoped she was driving him a little crazy in return.

  She started to babble about the first time she'd been to the Museum of Natural History as a kid and how that scared her off of the museums for years.

  "Those damn mammoths featured in my nightmares for years," she heard herself say and winced internally. This was not a seduction. This was making a fool of herself, most likely.

  "I was afraid of dinosaurs' skeletons," Shawn admitted
when she finally made herself shut up. "I dreamed about their bones chasing me around, forming a full skeleton in one second and then breaking away bone by bone in the next one. It was terrifying."

  Alicia relaxed slightly, not realizing until it was already too late that it would put her in even more contact with Shawn as she leaned against his touch. He tilted his body towards her in response.

  She held her breath for a few seconds before slowly letting it out.

  Enjoy yourself. Whatever happens, let it happen.

  Alicia glanced up at Shawn, who smiled at her softly. His thumb ran up and down over the line of her spine. It was light enough they both could pretend it didn't happen, but she didn't want to pretend. They stared at each other for a long moment, and only the voice of the concierge finally dragged them out of it.

  The evening had barely started, and she was already wondering how long she would last before either kissing him in the middle of the room full of people or dragging him out of here and doing wicked things with him at some place more private. At this point, she didn't much care where that would be.

  ***

  "Do you want to dance?" Shawn asked her, leaning closer than necessary, close enough for her to feel his warm breath on the skin of her neck and for his lips to almost touch her ear.

  She nodded, biting her tongue again as she tried not to shiver or to reach up and touch her neck.

  As he circled his arm around her waist this time, he pulled her closer than he had last week. Their bodies brushed against each other as they danced, and she would only have to move that much closer to kiss him. Not yet, she told herself, but as she stroked the back of his neck with her fingers, she pictured doing the same with her tongue.

  As if he read her thoughts, his grip on her waist tightened, and she stumbled forward, her breasts brushing against his chest. She tried to swallow a moan, but she still whimpered right next to his ear, so she knew he couldn't miss it.

  When he looked down at her, his eyes were dark, pupils dilated, and his lower lip had a fading teeth mark on it, as if someone bit it just a moment ago. Alicia licked her own lips, and his gaze followed the movement of her tongue, making her inhale sharply.

  "If I'm reading you wrong, tell me, and we'll finish this dance, walk back to our table, and I'll leave you for a few minutes to take a bit of a fresh air," he murmured quietly, and Alicia swallowed hard before shaking her head.

  "You're not reading me wrong," she whispered, making herself hold his gaze. She didn't want there to be any doubt. She wanted it.

  And when he pulled her closer against him, she could clearly feel he wanted her as well.

  "Then what do you say we finish this dance and leave the party early?"

  She dug her fingers into the nape of his neck for a second. "I say this song better be short."

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The way back to his apartment seemed longer than ever before, and Shawn couldn't even blame it on traffic, since the streets of New York were relatively empty tonight.

  Meanwhile, the time dragged on forever because he had to keep himself from tugging Alicia closer, from pulling her on his lap and kissing her until they both forgot where they were. Though they wouldn't stop at kissing, either. Shawn was already picturing very vividly everything he wanted to do with her, to her—everything he hadn't let himself think about before.

  Now he wanted to lay her down on his bed and run his lips and tongue over the edges of that dress that was cupping her breasts so perfectly. He wanted to take it off of her slowly and kiss every inch of uncovered skin. He wanted to get inside her and fuck her slow and deep, and then fast and hard. He wanted to see her lose her mind. He wanted to hear what kinds of noises she would make in his bed.

  He wanted to do so many things, but for now, the only thing he could do was pray for Matt to drive faster.

  The only point of contact between Shawn and Alicia were their joined hands on the seat between them. He brushed his thumb over her knuckles back and forth and followed the movement with his gaze whenever looking into Alicia's face got to be too much and he needed a moment.

  Because now everything in her called out to him. Her dark eyes, where he saw the same heat that was pulsing inside of him, her gaze dropping to his lips every once in a while, her lips, her neck, her breasts...

  Shawn glanced at their hands, tightening his grip involuntarily for a moment. His erection pushed a bit painfully against the seam of his pants, but the discomfort actually helped with keeping the desire at bay.

  The car stopped in front of his apartment building, and he lifted their joined hands to kiss her knuckles.

  "If you've changed your mind—"

  Alicia shook her head, a strand of hair falling on her face. "I haven't."

  He brushed his lips over her knuckles again before letting her go so he could exit the car. He turned to offer her his hand as she followed him, and he caught himself staring at her long legs as she stepped out. He'd almost choked at the start of the evening when her dress had pushed up her thighs as she'd been getting into the car in front of her place. Now, the view was no less breathtaking.

  And he was allowed to look.

  As they walked into the building, the anticipation vibrating right under his skin made him feel like a teenager. Or maybe I just forgot how it could feel to want somebody that much.

  Shawn had behaved himself for the entire evening, but the second the door of the elevator closed behind them, something in him snapped. He turned and pushed Alicia against the wall before he kissed her, hungry and deep, as his fingers tangled in her tied hair.

  And she met him halfway, responding to his kiss with ferocity he didn't think he'd seen in her before. Her tongue slid against his, and her fingers tightened over his shoulders as if she wanted to pull him down.

  Down as in to her level or down as in to his knees, he didn't know, but before he could ask, the ding of the elevator reminded him where they were. He pulled back when the door opened on his floor to a thankfully empty corridor.

  "Come on." He grabbed Alicia's hand again and led her to his apartment. Her laughter right behind him made him want to spin her around and kiss her again, but he stopped himself. Almost there.

  There was nothing stopping him when they got into the apartment, though. Right after the door closed behind them, Shawn backed Alicia to the wall again and kissed her, running his hands down her sides. He tightened his grip on one of her hips, and she hooked her leg over his, moaning into the kiss. He had a brief thought of holding her up right against this wall as he fucked into her, but he filed it away for some other time.

  Now, he wanted her in his bed.

  On the way to the bedroom, both of them lost shoes and jackets, dropping them as they went. Shawn tugged the tie off and started to unbutton his shirt, but protested when he saw Alicia reach back to the zipper of her dress.

  "Let me," he said, plastering himself to her back just as they stepped through the door to his bedroom.

  Alicia tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck as she arched against him. "Be my guest," she whispered. He forgot about his own half-opened shirt and started a line of kisses from her neck to her shoulder as he found the zipper and pulled it open slowly.

  She turned around as the dress fell down.

  "Fuck." Her body was beautiful, and as she was standing in front of him just in her panties, she looked absolutely and utterly breathtaking.

  He ran his fingers over her skin, starting from her neck and moving lower, between her breasts and over her stomach. He could feel the answering shiver under his fingertips when he paused at the line of her panties. Her nipples hardened, and he ran his thumbs over them, scratching lightly with his nails.

  "Oh God," she moaned, reaching to pull his head down for a hard kiss. She bit his lower lip before licking over it, and then stepped back, raising her eyebrows in a silent challenge.

  Shawn grinned. It was on.

  He pushed her toward the bed until she lay in the middle of
it, spreading her arms to the sides and up. She held his gaze as she arched her back, and he swore, trying to get out of his clothes quicker. Naked, he joined her on the bed, leaning over her. He brushed his nose over the line of her neck, inhaling the scent of her perfume and her—flushed and waiting. He licked the small dip of her collarbone before moving down her chest, taking the same path he took moments before with his hand.

  Shawn kissed and nipped at her skin, sucking a small mark next to her belly button and almost getting kneed to the groin as she laughed.

  "Ticklish," she gasped, pushing his head away.

  He was kneeling between her legs now, and as he sat back, he ran his hands over her thighs, up and down, fingers brushing over her panties, always retreating, only to return a moment later.

  Her laughter turned into a moan as he did it again, and she pushed her hips up, seeking his touch. She reached down to pull her panties off, but he shook his head.

  "I'll take care of them."

  "Come on," she whispered, almost pleading, and he couldn't believe something so simple left him breathless. All of a sudden, he craved more—he needed to know her inside out, her body, her mind, everything. It was a heady thought, but his body had no qualms about what it wanted, too.

  He tugged her panties off quickly and reached to slide his fingers over the patch of short hair and lower, finding her hot and slick, waiting for him.

  He rubbed against her clit as he looked up at her face, and she moaned, tilting her head back. The flush over her skin darkened and spread, covering her neck and chest.

  She hooked her foot over his ass, pulling him closer, and he went, leaning over to kiss below her navel before he covered her body with his again, stretching over her. Alicia pulled him into a kiss and circled her legs around his hips.

  "Get in me, come on," she whispered the words onto his lips, and Shawn hurried to comply. After pulling out a condom from the nightstand's drawer, he backed away to sit back between her legs again as he put it on. He could feel her gaze on his cock the entire time, and that got him even harder. He needed to clasp his hand hard over the base of his cock to push back the need to come nownownow.