by Ramona Gray
“Night, Amy. Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun.”
Amy’s face softened and she smiled at Jane. “Me too. Thanks for coming with me.”
Chapter 9
“Are you kidding me?” Jane sighed with exasperation. She was adding another pile of paper to Luke’s desk and her elbow had bumped one of the others. The papers dropped to the floor and floated under his desk as she sighed again.
It was her own fault. She was a bundle of nerves this morning and almost jittery with excitement. Luke was back in the office this morning after being gone for two weeks. She pushed Luke’s chair back, dropped to her knees and crawled under the massive desk. As she gathered the papers, she tried to tell herself she wasn’t excited about seeing Luke again.
Neither her head nor her body believed her and another little vibration of excitement went down her spine. She had spoken to Luke by email almost every day the first week but she hadn’t heard from him at all the second week. Not surprising considering he was on holiday but a small part of her had hoped he would email her. The second week was very quiet and what little work stuff that had come up, Mark was able to answer all of her questions. She couldn’t even use work as an excuse to email Luke.
She picked up the last of the papers and clutched them to her chest. She shrieked and reared up when something brushed her foot. The back of her head hit the top of Luke’s desk with a meaty thud and she groaned as she was pulled out from under the desk. Her head was ringing and little dots of light were flashing in her vision as she squinted at Luke. He was sitting in his chair, his face a mask of surprise and confusion, and he hauled her to her knees before touching her head.
“What are you doing under my desk?”
“I dropped some papers,” she mumbled. She touched the back of her head and winced as Luke muttered a curse.
“Are you okay?’ He asked.
“I hit my head a little,” she mumbled again.
“Let me see,” he instructed.
“I’m fine.” She grabbed the arms of Luke’s chair, keeping her head bowed, and tried to stand. The room swayed and she dropped back to her knees as Luke grabbed at her arms.
“Jane!”
“I’m okay,” she repeated. “I just need a minute.”
“Let me see your head,” he demanded. He cupped the back of her neck and pushed her head down before parting the strands of her hair. When his fingers brushed over the bump, she winced and grabbed his thighs, squeezing them as he touched the bump again.
“There’s no blood,” he said, “but you have one hell of a bump already. Do you feel faint?”
“No,” she said. “Not anymore.”
“Take a couple of deep breaths,” he instructed.
She did what he asked, staring at his firm thighs in his dress slacks as he rubbed the back of her neck. After a few minutes, she said, “Better.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“You probably have a concussion.”
“I don’t,” she said.
She lifted her head and smiled up at him. “Uh, welcome back.”
His fingers tightened on the back of her neck.
“What’s wrong?” She asked.
He didn’t reply. His gaze roamed over her face and she licked her lips nervously. His gaze immediately dropped to her mouth and lust soared to life in her veins. The look on his face was one of pure hunger and she looked away at the intensity of it. She blushed when she realized she was on her knees between his legs.
Don’t look at his crotch, she told herself fiercely as she stared at his crotch. His hand tightened on the back of her neck and his chest heaved as he gulped in a sudden rush of oxygen.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. She tried to stand, her eyes widening when he wouldn’t let her. She stared up at him, her mouth going dry at the look of desire on his face.
“No,” he said hoarsely. “Stay right where you are, Ms. Smith.”
His other hand reached up and for one moment she thought he was unbuckling his belt.
Yes! Her inner mind crowed. “Suck on his cock, Jane! Give him a blowjob and maybe he’ll eat your pussy in return.
She blushed at the shameless dirtiness of her inner thoughts. Disappointment rushed through her when he didn’t go near the waistband of his pants. Instead, he brushed his fingers across her cheek before dragging his thumb along her bottom lip.
Without stopping to think, she closed her lips around his thumb and sucked. His low groan set her nerves on fire and she slid her mouth up and down his thumb, swirling her tongue around the knuckle as she stared up at him.
His nostrils flaring, he cupped her neck and pulled her forward. “Fuck, Jane,” he muttered. “I want your hot little mouth on my dick.”
She was still squeezing his thighs and he inhaled sharply when she reached for his belt buckle.
“Welcome back, buddy. How was the vaca – whoa!”
Luke yanked his thumb from her mouth and stood. He grabbed her arms and dragged her to her feet. She spun around and stared wide-eyed at Mark as he stood in the doorway with a look of surprise on his face.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” he said as the surprise was replaced with a cheeky grin. “I can come back later.”
“No!” Luke said as Mark turned to go. “Jane was, uh…”
He trailed off and with her cheeks blazing red, Jane said, “I dropped some papers under his desk.”
“Right. She dropped some papers,” Luke said.
When Jane went to bend over to pick up the papers, he grabbed her arm and said, “I’ll get them. Could you, uh, grab me a coffee?”
“Of course, Mr. Dawson,” Jane said.
The back of her head aching and her entire face bright red, Jane hurried past Mark. She shut the doors behind her as Luke sank into his chair.
* * *
Mark strolled to the desk and collapsed in one of the guest chairs. “Hey, Luke?”
“Yeah?”
“If you’re going to ask your secretary to give you a ‘welcome back to the office blow job’, you really should lock your office doors.”
“She wasn’t giving me a blow job!” Luke snapped.
“Really? Because from where I was standing, that’s exactly what it looked like. I don’t blame you. Now that she’s gained some weight, she’s a cute little thing.”
“Stay away from her!” Luke snarled at him and Mark held up his hands.
“Calm down, dude. I’m not interested in your PA.”
Luke groaned and rubbed his hand across his jaw. “She wasn’t giving me a blow job, Mark. She really did drop some papers. I scared her when I came into the office and she hit her head on the desk. I was checking to make sure she wasn’t bleeding.”
“I believe you,” Mark said. “How was your vacation?”
“Fine,” Luke said.
“Fine?” Mark arched his eyebrow at him. “That’s it?”
“What do you want me to say?” Luke asked in exasperation.
“I don’t know, maybe that you got your rocks off with some saucy French maid.”
Luke rolled his eyes before swiveling in his chair to stare out the window. There was no way he was telling Mark that he spent most of his week off wishing he was home. More accurately, wishing he was in Jane’s bed.
He groaned again and closed his eyes. What the fuck was wrong with him? He was unbelievably eager this morning to see Jane. The moment he caught sight of her, his dick had gone to half-mast immediately. In the last two weeks she had gained weight and her skin glowed. The dark circles under her eyes were gone as were the sharp points of her cheekbones. She looked well-rested and healthy and…
Sexy as hell.
The way her pretty lips had pursed around his thumb and the feel of her soft tongue licking his skin was so fucking sexy. When she reached for his belt buckle, he had nearly come in his goddamn pants.
“Luke?”
“What?”
“What’s going on with you?”<
br />
“Nothing,” he said before turning around again. He pulled himself flush against his desk to hide his stiffy and turned on his laptop.
“So, did you find a lovely French lady and butter her biscuit?”
“Don’t be crude and no, I didn’t.”
“Because you want to butter your PA’s biscuit?” Mark said with a grin.
“Enough, Mark,” Luke said. “Aren’t you even going to ask how it went with the investors?”
“You sent me an email and told me they were being assholes and waffling on it.” Mark gave him a strange look. “You don’t remember that?”
“Yeah, sorry. I’m still a little jet-lagged.”
“Is that all it is?”
“Yes,” he snapped. “Are you going to get me caught up to date on the last week or grill me about my sex life?”
“Non-existent sex life,” Mark said. “Okay, okay,” he held up his hands again at the look on Luke’s face, “we’ll talk work.”
* * *
Jane stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. Her lips and cheeks were red and her hair was mussed up from where Luke had gripped it. She smoothed it down, wincing a little when she touched the bump on the back of her head.
“Calm down,” she whispered. “Just calm down. You were not about to give your boss a blow job in his office.”
Bullshit.
“I wasn’t!” She said frantically.
“Wasn’t what?”
She whirled around, staring wild-eyed at Amy as the woman entered the bathroom.
“Jane? What’s wrong?”
“Your brother is back,” she whispered.
“I know. I’m on my way to see him.”
“Mark is with him,” Jane said.
A grimace crossed Amy’s face. “I’ll go later. Tell me what’s wrong with you?”
“I…oh my God, Amy.”
“What?” Amy asked in bewilderment.
“I was in Luke’s office and I dropped some papers under his desk. I crawled under his desk to get them and he didn’t see me when he came in. He sat down at his desk and scared the crap out of me and I hit my head on the desk. I was on my knees and he was, uh, looking at my head to make sure I wasn’t bleeding. Mark came in and it looked like I was – was…”
She trailed off as Amy stared at her.
“Like I was giving him a blowjob,” she finally whispered.
Amy burst into peals of laughter and Jane scowled at her. “It isn’t funny!”
“It’s hilarious,” Amy said as she laughed harder. “You can’t see it because you’re too close to the situation.”
“Oh God,” Jane said. “Mark thinks I’m a whore.”
“Who cares what he thinks,” Amy said scornfully.
Like always, whenever the subject of the CFO came up, Amy was immediately tense and moody.
“Hey, Amy? Is there something going on with you and Mark?” Jane asked.
“Of course not,” Amy said. “Why would you think that?”
Jane shrugged. “I know the three of you grew up together but you don’t seem to like him very much.”
Amy paused. Her cheeks were reddening and for a moment it looked like she was going to cry.
“What’s wrong?” Jane asked. She hurried over and patted Amy’s arm. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing,” Amy said. “Mark and I used to be friends and now we’re not.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s an asshole,” Amy snapped before wincing. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. Do you want to talk about it?” Between her day job and her job at the club, she didn’t see a lot of Amy but even the couple of weekends she’d spent with her was enough to see that Amy wasn’t the carefree, loving hippie she pretended to be. There was something wrong, just lurking under the surface of her happy façade that Amy couldn’t quite disguise no matter how hard she tried.
“Not really,” Amy said. “I’m making lasagna tonight for supper. I’ll put the leftovers in the fridge for you when you’re done at the club, okay?”
“You don’t have to make me dinner every night,” Jane said.
“I don’t mind and besides, you cook on the weekend so it evens out. Speaking of, I’m going for a girls’ weekend with Valerie and Monique so I won’t be around this weekend. You’re on your own, okay?”
Jane nodded. “When are you leaving?”
“Friday night. Are you still planning on painting your bedroom?”
“I was thinking I might if you’re sure you’re okay with me changing the colour?”
“Of course I am. Besides, it could use a fresh coat of paint so you’re doing me a favour. Leave me the receipt and I’ll pay you for the paint and the supplies.”
“Absolutely not,” Jane said. “I want to change the colour so I’ll pay for it.”
“Nope,” Amy said. “It’s on me.”
“Everything’s on you,” Jane said.
Amy grinned at her. “It’s why I make such an awesome roommate. Now, we both better get back to work. I know you and Luke are hot for each other but now that he’s back from Paris try not to engage in any sexual shenanigans at the office.”
“I’m not – we’re not – I mean, there’s nothing going on between us,” Jane sputtered.
Amy grinned at her. “You know there isn’t an actual rule here about coworkers boinking right? Technically, you can’t be fired for any…sexual shenanigans you engage in.”
“He’s my boss!” Jane squeaked out as her face turned a fiery red.
“I know and normally I would caution against sleeping with your boss but there’s something between you and Luke that’s worth exploring. I’ve never seen him act this way before.”
Despite her embarrassment, Jane couldn’t resist asking, “What way?”
Amy shrugged. “So thoughtful and, caring, I guess is the word. My brother is usually pretty aloof. Even with the women he’s been in actual relationships with.”
Jane didn’t know what to say to that so she stared at the floor as Amy squeezed her arm. “Give it a chance, why don’t you, Jane?”
“Because sleeping with the boss is a mistake,” Jane said.
“Are you speaking from experience?” Amy asked.
The bathroom door opened and a blonde woman gave them a curious look before slipping past them into the closest stall.
“I’d better get back to my desk,” Jane said.
“Me too,” Amy said. “I’ll see you later.”
* * *
“Welcome back, Lukie.”
Luke looked up from his computer as Amy walked into his office. She shut the doors and kissed his cheek before sitting down.
“Thanks, Amy.”
“You look tired.”
“Still a little jet lagged,” he replied. He glanced at his watch. It was almost twelve-thirty and he was starving. He was reaching for the phone to ask Jane to order him lunch when there was a soft knock on the door and it opened. Jane, her cheeks red and the scent of snow clinging to her, carried in a large brown paper bag and set it on the desk.
“I ordered you lunch,” she said.
“Thank you,” he replied. He avoided looking at her and she did the same before giving Amy a brief smile and leaving the room.
“Well, that was awkward as hell,” Amy said.
Luke frowned at her. “No, it wasn’t.”
“Whatever, big brother.”
He leaned back in his chair and cleared his throat. “How is it, uh, going, living with Jane?”
“Really good,” Amy said. “She’s a real sweetheart and the perfect roommate.”
“Are you two becoming, um, friends?” Luke asked casually.
“I think so,” Amy said. “I don’t actually see that much of her during the week. She usually goes from here to visit her foster mother and then goes to the club.”
“The club?”
“Yes. She has a second job waitressing at some club on the west side. You didn’t know that?”
“No.”
She works there Monday to Thursday. She doesn’t get home until after two usually.”
“What?” Luke stared at her and Amy nodded again.
“I know, right? I don’t know how she does it. I told her she could drive to the office with me in the morning so she doesn’t have to take the bus anymore, but that still only gives her like four hours of sleep. I’d be a friggin’ zombie. Anyway, we’ve been spending some time together on the weekends, when she’s not at the care home with her foster mom, and I really like her, Luke. She’s sweet and thoughtful. I’ve made her come to family dinner for the past two weekends and Mom and Dad like her too. Heck, I think Mom already considers her family. She clucks over her like a mother hen.”
Amy suddenly laughed. “She made this giant casserole and sent it home with us because she thought Jane was too thin. We’ve been eating it for lunches for the past week.”
“She looks like she’s gained weight,” Luke said.
“Yep, she has. Thank God. I was worried about her when she first moved in but a couple of weeks with a steady supply of groceries has done wonders. She looks so good now. Don’t you think?”
Luke gave his sister a suspicious look before shrugging. “I hadn’t really noticed.”
“Bullshit,” Amy said. “You couldn’t keep your eyes off her ass when she was leaving your office a few minutes ago.”
“Keep your voice down,” Luke said. “What club does she work at?”
“I have no idea. She’s weirdly vague about it.”
“She shouldn’t be out alone that late at night,” Luke said.
“I offered to loan her the cash to buy a car but she refused,” Amy said. “She said a bus pass is cheaper than gas and insurance. Maybe you should give her a raise.”
Luke didn’t reply and Amy picked at her bright pink thumbnail before smiling at him. “I’m glad you’re home, Lukie.”
“Thanks, Ames. I am too.”
“Meet anyone interesting?”
“The investors were – “
“I’m not talking about the investors,” Amy interrupted. “Did you meet any girls?”
Luke rolled his eyes. “We’re not teenagers, Amy.”
“Don’t I know it. Did you meet anyone?”