by Lauren Wood
“Of course I can.” He took the hammer out of my hand and paid the man in charge for another go.
I was fully aware that Jordan could do better than me. I wasn’t trying to enter into a competition with him. Rather, I wanted to watch the muscles, on his back, bulge, as he prepared to let the hammer down. I wanted to watch his arms become big, as he lifted. The reason that I’d challenged him was purely for my own selfish reasons.
And just as I had expected, when Jordan brought it down on the platform, it went up, almost to the top, showing me just how strong Jordan was. I let out a deep breath, my lip darting out to lick my lips before my teeth gently tugged on the bottom one. I wondered if he could hold me like that while he was fucking me.
The vendor congratulated Jordan before handing him the largest bear that they had. It was brown, a regular, huge teddy bear. And, it was almost the size of me. I didn’t know how I was going to lug it around everywhere. We would definitely have to make a pit stop at his car so that I could store it somewhere.
Although there was something oddly satisfying about rubbing it in the face of other people. Look at what my boyfriend got me! And what did your boyfriend get you?
My eyes widened. Had I just called him my boyfriend? What did I think that I was doing? Jordan was not my boyfriend. Just because we’d had sex once didn’t mean that we had some kind of claim over each other. We weren’t supposed to be together, it was an unspoken, and spoken, rule between us.
But, what if I wanted him to be?
“Do we need to take that to the car?” Jordan asked me, and I looked up at him, into those grey orbs that he called his eyes. There was something that I wanted to take to the car. We could get into the back seat and go at it like we were nothing but two teenagers who had experienced sex for the first time and couldn’t get enough of it.
“No,” I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “I actually think that I’m just about ready to call it a night and go home.” Before I had any bad ideas like taking you home and forcing you to fuck me against my bed.
“You sure?” Jordan asked and cocked his head to the side. “You don’t want to do just one more ride?”
I listened to his words and held up a single digit. “Just one?”
“Just one,” he reassured me.
“And what one would you like that to be?”
Jordan turned around and pointed at the ferris wheel, as it moved in a circle. “How about that one?” he asked. “Isn’t it the obvious choice? Besides, you can take Mr. Teddy with you.”
“Hey!” I exclaimed. “His name is Mr. Pants.”
Jordan laughed, as he grabbed my hand and led me to the ferris wheel. It didn’t take long to get our ticket, and all I could think about was the fact that he’d grabbed my hand. As much of a schoolgirl as it made me sound like, it was nice. I liked it. Warm and soft but not sweaty like the guys back in highschool.
The ferris wheel was nice. I sat close to Jordan, inhaling the pine scent that was so him and struggling to keep my hands to myself. I, desperately, wanted to slide my hand against the seat and wrap it around his dick and make sure that I was the best lover that he’d ever had. But, that wasn’t an option.
Not in public anyways.
Once we were off the ride, Jordan deemed that it was time to take me back home. So, we drove to the large apartment that now housed only one person since Drew had moved out. By the time that I’d woken up, the night after our huge, explosive argument, he had moved all of his things out, leaving my apartment half empty.
I should have been wondering how he was doing. I should have been thinking about whether or not I should give him a text or call. But those were the farthest things from my mind. Instead, all I could think about was the handsome man in front of me.
“I guess this is goodbye,” Jordan told me. I bit into my bottom lip. I didn’t want to say goodbye. We had actually had a good night together, and I wasn’t ready for it to end. There was still something that I wanted to do, even if I knew that I shouldn’t.
“It doesn’t have to be.” I pressed my lips against his.
11
Jordan
I fell back into kissing Cat like was I falling down a hole—long and dark. There was no going back. We devoured each other’s mouths until another resident of her building loudly cleared their throat at us as they passed us to go inside as if to say Get a room, you animals.
“Coming up?” she asked me with a slightly embarrassed grin as her eyes darted from the crotchety-looking old woman back to me.
I bit my bottom lip, staring back at those hopeful, pleading eyes of hers. I wanted to kiss her again so we didn’t have to talk about anything else, but that’s what got us into trouble in the first place.
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?” I asked.
“No,” she chirped with a shrug. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I want to.”
I dropped my head in submission and followed her in. The moment we were in the elevator, we went crashing into each other again. Our bodies knocked from one side of the elevator to the other as our tongues tangled together and our hands grabbed at every inch of clothing we could grip.
When the doors opened, we went stumbling through the hall—not breaking our kiss. Until we nearly crashed into another one of her neighbors who looked about as displeased as the old woman on the sidewalk out front had.
We finally forced ourselves apart just long enough for her to get her key into the lock of her door and turn. As soon as the door was open, all bets were off.
My body went shooting against hers again, sending her hurtling against the wall under the weight of me. I lifted her up, wrapping her legs around my waist as my mouth and my throbbing erection pressed into her. Soft, desperate whimpers escaped her lips as she grinded against me.
Her hands ran up the back of my head, taking in fistfuls of my hair, as my tongue rolled through her mouth—exploring her taste.
“Fuck, you taste good,” she groaned against my lips, taking my thoughts about her right out off the tip of my tongue.
I wanted to taste more of her. I pulled at her jacket, then her shirt until her lacey push-up bra was in plain view and mine for the conquering. My hands slid inside of each cup, popping her luscious breasts free. I flicked my tongue around each of her hardened nipples as I snapped open the clasp of the bra. I was too impatient to wait.
She snapped at the buttons of my shirt just as impatiently. The way her hands spread across the muscles of my chest with that hungry look in her eyes made me lose my mind. I kissed her harder, faster—as we slowly made our way blindly through the apartment.
It was a relief to finally find her bed after knocking over a couple of lamps and a pesky coat rack. Finally, her body was mine with nothing to stop us…no office, no fiance…Nothing outside of that room existed. It was just me and her, and the world waiting underneath her clothes for me to explore.
Her nails dug into me as I slipped the last of her clothes off and kissed my way down her body. I remembered how exquisite it was to eat her out that night when we were working late, and now I finally had my chance to dive back in. Her hips buckled as I ran my tongue across her folds from top to bottom, delighting in how she moaned as I swirled it in circles—coaxing even more primal sounds out of her.
I sucked and licked until she was shaking against me, exploding into my mouth. I pulled back with a proud smile as her pleasure faded, but she looked nowhere near finished with me yet. Which was good, because I wasn’t done with her yet either.
“Come here,” she purred, pulling my mouth back to hers.
“You like tasting yourself on my lips?” I asked, feeling the shudder from the tip of her tongue as she ran it along my bottom lip.
She gave a soft, devilish laugh and nodded. I kissed her again, settling my hips between her thighs. There were other things I remembered about the time before that I was all too eager to feel again as well.
Just as I was gearing up to slide inside of her a
gain, she pushed me away. She rolled me over onto my back and climbed on top, swinging one leg over me. As her weight settled on my stomach, she ran her hand up and down my cock—teasing me with a small glimpse of what was to come.
“I like having you in a bed,” she snickered as she folded over me and flicked her tongue along the edge of my ear.
My hips lifted up to her, pressing against her for relief. She hovered over me, drawing it out as long as possible until she guided my cock inside of her.
My eyes rolled into the back of my head as she lowered herself, taking me in slowly—inch by inch.
“Fuck, Cat,” I hissed through clenched teeth. “You feel amazing.”
“Mmmm,” she groaned, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip.
She lifted and dropped down again, settling into a steady rhythm with the perfect sway to her hips. She moved her body around in circles, hitting all the perfect nerves in my body. I ran my hands up her thighs, unable to resist clenching my fingers into her skin each time her muscles clenched around me. So tight and so wet, pushing me closer to the edge.
She rode me until we were both exploding, crashing over with ecstasy. But things didn’t stop there. The sun was coming up before we finally submitted to our bodies being spent. We had fucked each other dry and limp.
“After that night at the office, I caught myself wondering what you’d be like in a bed with a whole night at your disposal,” she told me.
“Well…now you know,” I chuckled. “And? What’s the verdict?”
Her eyes sparked. “You don’t need me to tell you. And I don’t want to anyway. You don’t need anything else going to that big head of yours.”
“Fine,” I smirked, resting my weight on my arm so I could get a better look at her—naked and sprawled out next to me in a tangle of sheets. “But I have no issue telling you that was phenomenal. You are fucking phenomenal.”
The corners of her lips curled as she turned over on her back. “I know,” she sighed unapologetically.
“Oh, who's got a big head now?”
“Both of us!” she laughed as I danced my fingers across her chest, tickling her.
But after a few seconds, our laughter faded. I didn’t know where Cat’s head was, but mine was in all the wrong places.
She was so damn beautiful that it almost hurt to see her laughing in my arms like that. I never felt anything more for women than an itch to fuck them. I couldn’t remember the last time someone ever meant more to me than that. But now here was Cat…the epitome of everything I had been looking for. She couldn’t have been more my type if I had her made custom, just for me.
And yet we both knew this couldn’t go anywhere.
My eyes darkened, and she was quick to notice the shift in my expression. I just couldn’t let myself fall too deeply into such a dangerous moment…one that had me asking all sorts of wrong questions like—Would her Dad really be so mad at us? Aren’t there plenty of couples in the world who work together, run businesses and companies together?
“What?” she huffed, snapping me out of it.
“Nothing,” I murmured. “It’s just…”
Her finger shot up in front of my lips, stopping my words dead in their tracks. “Don’t make your same mistake from last time. Don’t ruin this by rambling on with your big mouth, saying all the wrong things.”
“What exactly are the right things to say in this situation?” I wondered.
“That’s my point,” she said, pressing her lips to mine with a quick peck. “You shouldn’t be saying anything at all.” She rolled over, nestling deeper into the covers with a contented sigh. “Just keep your mouth shut and put your arms around me so we can go to sleep.”
I wanted to go against everything she just said and ask if her father ever made surprise visits to her place. Surely Cat wouldn’t let us stay up all night and then fall asleep together, naked at dawn, if he was in the habit of showing up here unannounced. Would she?
My chest was starting to pang with all of my doubts about her motives and what exactly she wanted from me. But as she backed up into the curve of my body, fitting against me perfectly—like a puzzle piece, her warmth enveloped me and chased away every last question or thought.
I laid my head on the pillow and drowned in the scent of her shampoo from the tandrels of her hair that spread out behind her. Trailing one finger down the side of her face, I felt my eyes growing heavy until finally I drifted off into a deep sleep.
The best part about sleeping next to Cat was that I didn’t toss and turn with hot sweaty sex dreams about her all night long. There was no need to. Any time I wanted more, she was right there for the taking. And all too willing to give me more, because we both needed it.
By the time we woke up for good in the mid-afternoon, she was quick to try and shuffle me out of her place. She offered a bagel and some coffee as she walked around her sunny, crisp white apartment in nothing but my long dress shirt—which she didn’t show any intention of giving back.
As I scurred out into the hallway, she leaned in her doorway and said, “That really has to be the last time. Got it, Ashford?”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” I said as I strolled towards the elevator. Now I was more than ready to get out of there before I said the wrong thing and pissed her off all over again.
No, walking away that morning was easy. It would be the feeling that washed over me that evening that would be harder to deal with. Because come nightfall…I would want more. I just knew it. How could I not?
12
Cat
The sun was shining brightly that morning as I pushed through the busy sidewalks of the city I loved. I sucked in the crisp air and made my way through the crowds with my to-go coffee in hand. All of those nicely dressed professional people rushing off to work with their cell phones pushed to their ears—a good chunk of them would have killed to be walking in my black stiletto shoes. Because that morning I was on my way to Heartstring for what we hoped was the last of our negotiations.
It would be another week before we signed anything, of course. A deal this size didn’t just happen overnight, or even over a month. We had been negotiating for weeks and what would finally be laid out before us today was the fruit of our labors—one neat stack of papers just waiting for my father’s signature, Jordan’s signature, and my own.
In just a couple of more weeks, I could be one of the newest owners of a billion dollar company—one of the most popular dating apps on the market.
The gold siding of the building that framed the windows was glistening in the sunlight as I walked up to the revolving doors and marched inside. The receptionists knew me by now and waved me right on by to the elevators. I noticed everyone had started treating me differently since they likely heard the rumors that soon I would be their new boss.
Everyone smiled and said ‘Good morning’ as I passed through the workroom floor, passed all the employees scurrying to start their days. I loved the feeling that came with a well-run business. It was like an oiled machine with every gear running its course, and all I had to do was watch it carefully to make sure it kept functioning. At least that would be my focus when everything was said and done.
“Morning, Cat,” my father beamed, coming over for a hug as soon as I arrived.
“Good morning,” I sang back, breezing into the conference room where everyone was waiting.
Well, almost everyone.
I quickly noticed the empty chair where Jordan should have been sitting. It wasn’t like him to be late. I glanced down at my Tiffany’s watch—a recent present I had bought myself as an early celebratory reward. He definitely was never five minutes late, but then again—neither was I usually.
When he did finally come in, my father teased him. “You can’t show up late until you’re the boss, and we’re not the bosses yet.”
“Not yet, but soon hopefully,” he winked, sliding into his seat at the table. “Sorry, everyone.”
I glared at him, wondering what h
is excuse was. It still pained me to wonder what he did with his time when I wasn’t around. Was he sleeping with anyone? What if he met someone special? Would I have to spend the next five years watching him get married and have kids? Oh god, what if he brought her to the office a lot and I had to look at her knowing she had the guy I wanted but could never have?
I shook it all from my mind and felt the sting of Jordan’s eyes burning into me. His brow furrowed with a smirk, as if he was silently asking if I was okay. He must have caught the wild look that washed over my eyes as I plotted out the worst case scenario with us.
“Let’s get started. Shall we?” Jack proposed, opening his briefcase.
A couple of hours later, we were each walking out with our own copy of the approved contracts. One last look over from the lawyers along with a week for us to think everything over—then it would be time to sign on the dotted line, and my dream would come true.
“What do you two say I take you out for that lunch I had to rain check on at the start of all this?” Dad suggested as we went back down into the lobby. “I’d say the timing is appropriate.”
I smiled to myself, knowing that was when all of this started. The lunch he left us alone on is how it all began. We may not have slept with each other that night, but that’s when the wheels were put into motion.
“Actually, I have another meeting I need to get to,” Jordan said as he checked his phone. “I’m unloading a few of my bigger projects to make room for this beast.”
“Just you and me then?” Dad turned to me, rubbing his hand on my shoulder.
My nostrils flared as I felt the rush of nerves. I hated lying to him, but I was starting to get used to it. “Sorry, Daddy. I’ll have to pass too.” I leaned in and kissed his cheek. “We’ll have dinner soon?”
He flashed a look at Jordan. “The papers aren’t even signed yet, and she’s already too busy for me. What have we done?”