by Wendi Zwaduk
“She got a promotion or something. We finished up our projects and I got a new office,” Ben said. “Sweet office, too.”
“Good.” Austin opened the door and left the break room. He pieced through the conversation. Iris on the side? Not hardly. Having Molly as a second-rate date? What the hell? The guys were blind and full of shit. He stormed down the hallway. A new fucking office. Ben deserved to be stuck in one of the cubicles. Whatever. Austin stepped into Molly’s office, and she grinned then frowned as he closed the door.
“Don’t you look happy?” She smiled but it faded fast. “What happened? Got the news about me?”
“Yeah. I’m not sorry, though.” He leaned against the door and clicked the lock into place. He didn’t want any interruptions. His shoulders sagged and his fury melted away, only to be replaced by embarrassment. He’d blown everything sky high and needed to do some damage control. He also needed to clear a few things up—his future depended on it. “Remember how you felt when I married Carole? How pissed you were because I made the wrong decision and you knew it but I wouldn’t listen?”
“Yeah. I also remember what Carole said that day. She told me to go make some hot friends and to move on because you’d never be mine.” She gripped her stylus in both hands. “At the time, she was right.”
“No, she wasn’t—well, no. Yes. Fuck.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s the thing. We’d find a way—you and me. We always do. There’s something between us that can’t be denied. Hot friends or not, we’re supposed to be together. What she should’ve said was for you to get loyal friends.” He focused on her. Instead of the normal clutter on her desk, the space was clean. Only her tablet, phone and a file folder remained. Her cheeks were rosier than normal. She’d put makeup on that morning, but he could swear most of it was gone. What the hell?
She scooted her chair back and frowned. She sighed. “Loyal. That’s Remy to a T. Why? Aren’t you?” She stood and rounded her desk then met his gaze. “Austin? Is there something you should be telling me?”
“I’m very loyal.” He’d just demonstrated his overzealous and slightly neurotic devotion to her back in the break room.
“Then the rumor about you and Iris is crap. Okay. We’re cool.” She shrugged. “Or is there something else?”
“You were worried? Honey, I never slept with her.” His heart sank. He’d worked so hard to prove Molly was the only one he loved, but apparently he hadn’t done enough.
“No, but I’ll admit to being a tad jealous. I mean, she’s so much better suited for you, even if you haven’t slept with her. I’m what Ben and a few others have deemed second-rate.” She tucked the stylus into the top of the tablet.
“Ben and Tyson are full of shit.” He’d given them a piece of his mind and still didn’t believe they’d gotten the hint.
“They are, but they don’t matter.” She hooked her fingers in the front pockets of his slacks. “What are you getting at? You’re not jealous of Ben or Tyson, are you? I’m not attracted to them. Remember? I’m loyal. They’ve told me that a hundred times, too. You’re leftover and loyal. I don’t agree with them, but my opinion doesn’t matter to them.”
“They’re assholes.” He appreciated knowing he had nothing to worry about, but things were still touchy.
“Why would they spread a rumor about you and Iris or say that shit?” she asked.
“Jealousy. You and I have a good thing—in and out of work.” He held her close. “You’re important to me.”
She pressed her chest to his and rested her head on his shoulder. “I like hearing that.”
He’d been so strong for her but not nearly as much as she propped him up. He draped his arms around her shoulders and toyed with the downy soft hairs at the base of her neck. She hadn’t exactly told him she loved him in return. Call him sentimental, a romantic or whatever, but he’d fallen deep for her and needed to know she returned his love.
“Austin. Talk to me. What else is bothering you?” She met his gaze. “Huh?”
The blue in her eyes sparkled. He could get lost in those eyes. He couldn’t see his life without her. “Do—do you love me?” There. He’d asked the question. Part of him wanted to hear her answer. The rest of him wanted to run and hide, especially if she said no. “You’ve said it a couple of times, but I—I don’t trust myself. I’ve screwed up so much. I need to know what you said was the truth.”
“I’ve always loved you.”
No hesitation from her, just an honest answer. “Like you want to get married and grow old together? Maybe have a couple of kids with me? Or is this pity?” He sounded like a dick, but she unnerved him. “Be honest.”
“Where is this all coming from? You’ve got the biggest ego I’ve ever seen and you usually don’t scare easily. What happened to your confidence?”
“God. I’ve never been this unsure about anything in my life. I’ve always known where I was going and what I wanted to do. Now, I’m all fucked in the head.” He slid his hands into her back pockets and squeezed her ass.
“So Ben and Tyson ran their mouth. So what?” She didn’t pull away. Instead, she smoothed her palms over his chest. “I’ve told you I loved you so many times and you heard the words, but you weren’t ready to believe me.”
“Molls?” Fuck. Was that right? He’d been listening. He’d longed to know she returned his feelings. But he knew and she was right—she’d told him over and over how she felt, but he’d expected her to change her mind. She’d been the only one to trust and stick with him and he’d still refused to believe her.
“I’ve loved you since I first locked eyes on you. Crushing on you, pining for you…yeah. That’s was me. Then I saw the real man the night you walked me to my room because Reyland dumped me. You were kind, patient and smelled so good. You hugged me as I cried—I wanted to stay there in your arms forever. You moved on and so did I, but you were right—whatever that link was, it was always there. I married Linc but I wanted you. His jealousy was justified.”
His heart ached. He cupped her jaw in both hands and kissed her. This was why he loved her—she knew how to get him to crack. He didn’t understand how he’d passed her up for so long but he wasn’t going to any longer. She owned his soul.
“I guess what I’m saying is it doesn’t matter where we work or who we work with. I trust you and I love knowing that when go home, I know I’m coming home to you.” She balled her hands and rested her head on her fists. “And right now, I should gather my stuff so I can head home.”
“Babe.”
“I love you, Austin Dean,” she whispered. “All the way.”
“I love you, too, Molls.” Calm, relief and desire swept over him. A thought occurred to him. “You know. We’ve never properly initiated our office. Your office. Whatever.” He tilted her chin and kissed her lips, nose and cheeks.
“No, but we can after we leave. Then it won’t be our office, or mine.”
He paused. “Wait. What? It won’t? I’m confused. Ben said he was getting a new office, but are you, too? Tell me you’re getting to come back to me.”
“Not exactly. I got my pink slip today.” Tears slipped down her cheeks. Her makeup ran, leaving pale black streaks on her skin. “Mr. Lee said he’d thought it over. We’d violated the no-staff dating rule and he wasn’t convinced we’d stay here anyway, despite our track record for CDL and work ethic here. You might be back for now, but he wasn’t playing games any longer—especially after we both took time off for the Aura debacle. I can’t say that I blame him. The past month and a half has been crazy.”
“For that, you got fired. You’re the brains of our operation. Fire me, but keep you. Jesus. Ben or whoever was right, I’m a blunder without you.” He groaned. “Besides, plenty of people have second jobs. Who cares? You do what’s asked of you here, most of the time more than what’s asked. I’m the one who should’ve lost their job.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter since you’re not getting fired and I did.” She wiped her ch
eeks with the back of her hand. “It’s a good thing. Doesn’t seem like it, but it is.”
“I don’t like it. We broke the rules, not just you.” He’d march down to Mr. Lee’s office and resign. Fuck it. Then he’d beg for her to get her job back. He’d been the issue, not her.
She shrugged and straightened in his arms. “It kind of works out for the both of us.”
“How?” As far as he was concerned, she’d been given the raw end of the deal. “I want you to move in with me, so that’s fewer living expenses for you, but you’ve still got the lease on your apartment.”
“That’s not what I meant. I don’t want you to feel like you’ve got to pay my way.”
“You’re mine and I take care of what’s mine. Might take me a while to get there but I do.”
“I know.” She toyed with his collar then unbuttoned the top button of his shirt. “Remember last year when I entered the design competition for the museum group downtown?”
“Yeah. The logo thing. I remember. I encouraged you to try it. The ideas you showed me were awesome.” He wished he’d have been able to help her if only to have his name on the project, too. But he’d wanted her to shine and besides, he hadn’t come up with anything worthy of entrance into the competition. Her ideas rocked.
“I almost forgot about it because it took them nearly a year to decide. According to the board, they were trying to get the okay from Mr. Lee to let me do it and until recently, he wasn’t going to. If it was free or earned us promotion then he was all for it. Otherwise, no way.”
“Well? What happened?” Excitement ran through his veins, combined with the irritation from knowing she’d been fired.
She smiled again and sighed. “Mr. Lee refused until today and I’ve got the feeling that our relationship was what changed his mind. He probably told them I was fired before he mentioned it to me.”
“That’s nuts. If they said no then you’re screwed.” His skin prickled. Damn it. He wanted to fix this for her but didn’t know how.
“Yes and no. Getting fired wasn’t the end of the world. I can find something elsewhere. I’ve had offers but I liked being here—because it kept me close to you.” She shrugged. “I wanted to talk to you about it, but you were with Iris when they initially offered me the job. Then Mr. Lee said no, so I kept my mouth shut. No point in telling you about something that wasn’t going to happen.”
“I wish you had, but it’s done now.” She’d been so strong and kept her wits about her when others might have lost faith. She wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t want perfect. He wanted her. He needed the open line of communication with her, too, but he’d helped to make that difficult.
“I really want to work for the museum group. I like their flexibility, allowing me to do more than half of the work from home and I get to do some photography for them. Sure, there’ll be some traveling, but not tons, but the health benefits are better, they match half of my contributions to my 401k and we get free admission to all of the museums.” She paused. “Austin, it’s a great opportunity.”
He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “You really wanted to leave CDL, didn’t you?”
“I’ve got no choice now. He’s already hired my replacement.”
“Who?” Holy shit. He’d missed so much. Now he wouldn’t be able to see Molly every day at work, but really, did that matter? If he’d won her over then he’d have her in his life and bed forever.
“Her name is Angela. She just graduated in the fall from Kent with a bachelor’s in design. Ben and Tyson won’t know what to do with her. She’s pretty.” She shrugged again. “Right up your alley. Young, blonde, pretty.” She averted her gaze. “She’s sweet.”
“She must be with Ben or Tyson, because Mr. Lee informed me I’d be flying solo from here on out.”
She still wouldn’t look him in the eye. “We’re not going to be at the same office. Think this will still work?”
He curled his fingers under her chin and redirected her gaze. “I’m sure of it. You’re going to rock that job.” He tugged her across the room to her chair and sat on the leather seat. He pulled her across his lap. “I’m proud of you. The museum stuff is the kind of job you love. You went for it and got it. Plus, you stuck with me. I don’t need anyone else.” He threaded his fingers into her hair and removed the elastic from her ponytail. “I want you.”
“Austin.” Her hair tumbled down her shoulders. When she kissed him, her tresses tickled his face.
Hell yeah. He breathed in her scent and brushed his lips over hers. The need to make love to her overwhelmed him. The idea that they could get caught spurred him on. He slid his hands beneath her blouse and caressed her back. He loved the feel of her smooth skin under his fingers.
Molly sat up long enough to yank the blouse over her head. She tossed the shirt onto the desk and faced him again. “This is so unprofessional—us right now. I kind of don’t care.”
“Me either.” He eased the cups of her bra down and exposed her breasts. The straps slipped off her shoulders. She threaded her fingers into his hair as he latched on to her nipple. He rolled the sensitive skin between his teeth then sucked. Her moan turned his insides out. Fuck. He needed to take her. Right now. He switched his attention to her other nipple and palmed her chest.
Molly muffled her second moan against his hair. She shivered. “Austin,” she murmured.
He let go of her boob and flicked his tongue across her nipple. “Right here.”
“Make love to me.” She slid off his lap and turned her back to him. She shoved the stuff on her desk to the side and leaned over. “Please?”
“Don’t have to beg.” He reached around to the button on her jeans. He unzipped the denim and eased the jeans and her panties down her thighs. He dragged his nose and mouth along her ass cheek then bit. He could’ve sworn the temperature in the room spiked.
Molly smothered the yelp into the crook of her arm.
Hell, he wouldn’t need much time before he came apart. He stood and leaned over her, pressing kisses to her back as he popped the button on his fly. He shoved his pants and boxers down around his knees then stroked his dick a couple of times. His hand on his cock felt great but being inside her would be the best. He paused.
“Fuck. I don’t have rubbers,” he whispered.
“In my bag. Front flap.” She tucked her arms under her body as he rummaged through her purse. He located the condom and blew out a long breath. Thank God, she was prepared. He tore the foil wrapper then sheathed himself.
“Prop yourself up on your elbows.” He slid his arm under her as she complied and tweaked her breast through the fabric of her lacy bra. Desire welled within him. Fuck. He lined his erection up with her cunt and pushed. Her heat enveloped him.
She grinned and a whimper bubbled from her throat.
“Good girl.” He pinched her nipple again. “Mine,” he said against her ear. “All mine.” He let go of her chest then grasped her hips. Fucking hell. He wouldn’t last.
Molly eased into his arms. She met his gaze and spurred him on.
Austin pumped his hips, thrusting into her. Each slide into her body nudged him closer to climax. His nerve endings tingled and his thoughts blurred. Nothing mattered. Not the possibility of being caught, not her firing, nothing except being in that moment with her. He gritted his teeth and pistoned into her body. The sweet scent of her wrapped around him.
She shivered beneath him and bucked. Each muffled whimper and moan turned him on and increased his desire for her. He loved her and couldn’t see his life without her. He leaned over her and buried his face in her shoulder blade to keep from making much noise. From head to toe, he shuddered and the orgasm washed over him. He closed his eyes and filled her with his seed.
Austin kissed her skin and stilled within her. For a moment, the rest of the world melted away.
Molly collapsed on the desk with him on top of her. She laughed into her arm. “Someone will catch us.”
“Oh well.
If I get fired, I won’t argue.” Austin kissed her again then eased out of her. He tossed the used rubber into the waste can. He hiked his pants back up and stuffed his cock inside. He plopped onto the chair and sighed. He wasn’t going to be able to get any work done now. Sure, she relaxed him, but he wasn’t in the mood to write advertising copy for pineapples.
“You’re so bad.” She grinned and eased her jeans over her hips. She settled on his lap and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Feel better?” He snugged his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
“I’m sad I was fired, but not that I’m leaving, although this did help.” She glanced up at him and smiled. “I forgot to mention something. Since I’ve been let go, Mr. Lee did offer me a nice severance package—which I accepted—but since I’m out as of this afternoon and I don’t start at the museum for another two weeks, I’ve got some time off. I’m supposed to meet with the museum group when I leave tonight.”
“At least you got some cash out of it.” He held her tight. “Why don’t we go out tonight and celebrate? Wherever you want to go. I’m spoiling you.”
“I’d like that. I’ve got another idea—for afterwards.” She paused. “What if we used our vacation time together?”
“I doubt Mr. Lee would appreciate me using my last few vacation days, but I’m game. What were you thinking?” He liked where she was going with this.
“What if we went to Vegas and bet on ourselves?”
What she said sank in, but it took him a moment to understand. “And get married? Who would be the witnesses?” He loved where she was going with the idea. He’d go to Vegas in a heartbeat, especially if it meant a lifetime with her.
“Remy and his new beau, Dylan. I haven’t said anything to him but I know he’d agree if I say the word Vegas.” Her grin widened. She grabbed her shirt from the desk and threaded her arms through the sleeves.
“Wait.” He smoothed the hem of her shirt down. “Remy and my brother?”
She nodded. “I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out. They started seeing each other last week. You know Remy. He can’t do anything half-assed. Once they got together, they’re together.”