by Ramona Gray
“Night, Luke.”
Jane sat down across from Amy. When she heard her bedroom door shut, she reached across and squeezed Amy’s hand. “I’m really sorry about earlier.”
“No, I’m sorry. I – I needed to get some fresh air and Mark followed me outside. I didn’t mean for you to hear or see what you did. I thought you were in the kitchen with mom.”
Jane squeezed her hand again. “You don’t need to apologize. I took the recycling out for your mom and got locked out. I was about to say something when things got um...”
She trailed off as Amy blushed. “Oh God, I am so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be,” Jane said. “I knew something was up with you and Mark so it wasn’t that surprising. Why aren’t you, uh, at his house?”
Now her cheeks flushed and Amy glanced up at her before groaning. “Oh fuck. Did you hear everything?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry,” Jane said. “Listen, I’m not judging you, all right? It was kind of hot actually. I had no idea there was that side to Mark.”
“Jane, you can’t say anything to Luke, okay?” Amy said urgently. “Promise me you won’t say anything to him.”
“I won’t,” Jane said. “I promise I won’t.”
Amy searched her face before nodding. “Okay, thank you and thanks for keeping Luke from seeing us earlier. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to drag you into this mess.”
“You didn’t,” Jane said. “There seems to be a lot of, um, attraction between you and Mark so why aren’t you with him?”
Amy blinked rapidly before rubbing at her forehead. “It’s a long story. Listen, my brother’s waiting for you and honestly, I don’t want to talk about what happened. I wanted to apologize for it and ask you not to say anything to anyone about what you saw and, um, heard.”
“I won’t, Amy. I promise,” Jane said.
“Thanks, Janie.”
“You’re welcome. And listen, if you do want to talk about it, I’m here, okay? Sometimes it’s better if you talk about it.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks, Jane.”
“You bet. Good night, Amy.”
“Good night.”
Chapter 16
Luke was already in bed and waiting for her. She brushed her teeth and washed her face before climbing into the bed beside him. He brushed her hair back from her face and she smiled at him.
“Are you sure you don’t mind me staying the night?” He asked.
“No, I want you to stay,” she said.
He traced his hand over her bare shoulder and down her arm. Goose bumps broke out on her skin and he leaned over her and kissed her collarbone. “We had sex a lot today.”
“We did,” she confirmed as he cupped one small breast and stroked her nipple.
“Are you sore?” He asked.
She was a little sore but she shook her head. “No.”
He rested his hand on her hip and kneaded the flesh. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said. “Make love to me, Luke. Please.”
She was suddenly on the verge of tears. This would be the last night she would spend in the arms of the man she loved and she fought back the wave of depression. She wouldn’t spend this last night feeling sorry for herself. She would enjoy her final night with Luke and not let herself dwell on the future.
She kissed him hard on the mouth. “I want you.”
“I want you too, sweet Jane,” he whispered.
He pushed her onto her back and as his mouth began a slow path of kisses down her body, she closed her eyes and concentrated on nothing but how good he made her feel.
* * *
“Wake up, Jane.” Luke kissed the back of Jane’s shoulder.
She rolled over to face him and smiled at him in the dim light. “I’m not sleeping.”
“You should be, it’s really early.”
She glanced at the alarm clock. “Why are you awake so early?”
He didn’t want to tell her that he had spent all night awake. This was his last night with Jane and he wasn’t going to waste it by sleeping. He rubbed her hip. “I need to leave early. I didn’t bring work clothes with me.”
She gave him a small smile. “Right, of course. Thank you for spending the night with me, Luke. Thank you for everything.”
He kissed her gently. “Thank you. I had a really good time.”
“I did too.”
He waited for her to tell him she didn’t want it to end but he was being an idiot. They couldn’t keep sleeping together. He didn’t want to be known as the boss who banged his secretary and it wasn’t like she was going to quit so they could have a relationship. It was obvious that most of her paycheque went to Mama J’s care. She needed the money and he couldn’t blame her for that.
So transfer her back to Mark’s department at her current pay. Problem solved.
His mouth gaped open. Holy shit – could it be that simple?
“Luke? What’s wrong?”
He stared at her and blurted out, “You don’t need to work for me.”
“What?”
“You don’t need to work for me,” he repeated.
She froze and a look of fear crossed her face. “Are you firing me?”
“What? No, of course not!” He said. He sat up and ran his fingers through his thick hair. “But you could transfer back to finance. You could work in Mark’s department again and then we could - ”
He stopped abruptly and she gave him a curious look. “We could what?”
“Date,” he said. He had almost blurted out that they could get married. Fuck, what was wrong with him?
“You want to date me?” She said.
“Yes,” he said. “I do. There’s no policy on inter-office dating and I get that people will talk if we date, even if I’m not your direct boss, but I don’t care what they say. Do you?”
He hurried on before she could reply. “I know you need your current wage to take care of Mama J and I understand that. But, you could transfer back to Mark’s department at your current wage.”
“I was a data entry clerk. They don’t make that much,” she said.
“I’ll talk to Mark about it,” Luke said. “You’re intelligent and a fast learner. You could learn to do more than data entry.”
She stared silently at him and he said, “Unless you don’t want to date me and then, uh, forget everything I just said.”
She burst into laughter and he grinned nervously at her. “Is that a yes or a no to dating me?”
“I want to date you,” she said.
“Yeah?” He knew he sounded like an eager little kid but he couldn’t help it. “Really?”
“Yes,” she said. “But only if I transfer back to Mark’s department.”
“I’ll talk to him today,” Luke said. “You can be back in his department by tomorrow.”
“You might want to wait until you find a replacement for me,” Jane laughed.
“I’ll talk to Maria and get her to put out a job listing right away. We’ll put you back in Mark’s department and I’ll maybe borrow you for urgent stuff while we’re waiting for the new PA to start.”
She sat up and he pulled her into his lap, kissing her on the mouth as she tangled her hands in his hair.
“Let’s have sex to celebrate,” he said.
She laughed. “We don’t have time. You need to go home, remember? Besides, we can’t celebrate yet. Mark might not want me back in his department. I’m sure they’ve filled the position I left by now.”
Luke shook his head. “He’ll put you back in his department. Don’t worry about that.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” Jane said. She was a little worried about Mark’s reaction to having her work for him again, especially since she knew his and Amy’s secret.
“I do,” Luke said confidently. “Now, stop talking and lie back so I can eat your pussy.”
“We don’t have time,” she repeated.
“There’s always time for pussy eating,” he said solemnly.
Her laughter e
nded when he yanked back the covers, pushed her onto her back, knelt between her thighs and buried his face in her pussy.
“Fuck me!” The words burst from her throat in a harsh little moan as his tongue slicked over her clit.
He lifted his head and grinned up at her. “Whatever you say, Ms. Smith.”
* * *
“So, as you can see,” Luke said as he tapped the screen of his laptop, “we are fully committed to overhauling our digital presence and creating a brand new shopping experience for our clients.”
Pierre and Julien studied the screen as Luke discreetly checked the time. It was already five thirty and Jane would have left for her second job by now. He tried to hide his irritation. He hadn’t even had the chance to tell her the good news. Mark was perfectly willing to have Jane return to the finance department and was open to the idea of training her to do more. Hell, he had even suggested that if Jane was interested, she could take a few accounting classes. He’d wanted to tell her right away but Pierre and Julien were early for their meeting. He’d spent the last three hours, going over the company’s finances with them for the third time and detailing their plan to change their website and digital footprint. Frankly, he was getting tired of their waffling and was ready to throw in the towel.
Pierre glanced at Julien and nodded before sitting back in his chair. “Congratulations, Luke. We would like to invest in your company.”
“Good. You won’t regret it, gentlemen. I’ll have Mark draw up a contract and we can start negotiations.”
“Perfect,” Julien said. He glanced at his watch. “This calls for a celebration. You must go out with us this evening.”
“I have quite a bit of work to do,” Luke said. “In fact, I should probably - ”
“We insist,” Pierre said. “If we’re going to be working so closely together, we should get to know each other better, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Luke said. Jane was working late anyway. It wouldn’t hurt to get to know the two French men better. “I know the perfect place for dinner.”
“Bien,” Pierre said. “And we have heard of the perfect entertainment for after dinner.”
He grinned at Julien as Luke said, “What are you thinking of?”
“There’s a place called “Teasers”. Have you heard of it?” Julien asked.
Luke nodded and kept the dismay from his face. “I have.”
“Perhaps you have visited this fine establishment?” Pierre said.
“No,” Luke grunted.
Julien raised his eyebrows. “You have an issue with us going?”
“Not at all,” Luke said.
“Bien,” Julien said. “So, you will join us then?”
“Of course,” Luke said. “I’ll invite Mark as well.”
“The more the merrier,” Pierre said. “Now, if you will excuse us, we would like to say hello to your delightful sister before we leave.”
“She’s not here today,” Luke said. Amy had called in sick this morning.
“What a shame,” Julien said. “Give us the name of the restaurant and we will meet you and Mark there in say,” he glanced at his watch, “an hour?”
“Sure.” He gave them the name of the restaurant and shook their hands before walking them to the elevator. When they were headed downstairs, he walked to Mark’s office and knocked before sticking his head into the room.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Mark looked up from his desk. “I’m about to head home.”
“So, no plans?” Luke said.
Mark gave him a suspicious look. He didn’t look as tired as he had Sunday night but he still looked out of sorts. “Why?”
“Julien and Pierre have agreed to invest with us,” Luke said.
“That’s good,” Mark replied.
“You don’t sound that excited.”
Mark shrugged. “I am. I just don’t like those guys. Or trust them for that matter.”
Luke sighed. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Working with them will be good for the company despite how we feel about them personally.”
“I know,” Mark said. “Ignore me, I’m tired today.”
“About that – I need you to go out with me tonight.”
“What are we doing?” Mark asked.
“We’re having dinner with Julien and Pierre and then going to Teasers.”
“No,” Mark said as he closed his laptop and stood up. “No fucking way.”
“Come on, Mark,” Luke said. “I need you to help me out with this.”
“I’m not going to a goddamn strip club with those two assholes,” Mark said.
“C’mon, man,” Luke said, “it’s one night of your life.”
“They don’t even like me.”
“They were fine with you coming along. I can’t go to a strip club with only them,” Luke said. “You know I can’t.”
Mark sighed. “Fine. But you fucking owe me.”
“I know,” Luke said. “Thanks, buddy.”
* * *
“This place is disgusting,” Mark muttered into Luke’s ear.
“It could be worse,” Luke said. They followed Julien and Pierre to a table and he sank into the chair as the two French men stared eagerly at the stage. A woman wearing bikini bottoms and nothing else was gyrating against a pole. She was an excellent dancer and her body was lean and well-toned with high, firm breasts but he felt nothing when he stared at her. He wanted to be at home with Jane. He checked his watch. He wondered how long it would take before he could call it a night.
Julien and Pierre were still watching the woman dancing and when the waitress approached them, Luke smiled politely at her. “We’ll take four whiskeys. Thanks.”
She nodded and walked back to the bar. She wore a tiny pink skirt with a white satin bustier. A white kitten ear headband was perched on her head and her thigh high stockings had tiny white bows at the bands. Luke studied the club as Mark leaned forward in the chair next to him.
The place wasn’t very full, although there were more men than he would have thought for a Monday night. One of the tables across the club was crowded with eight men in business suits. Their faces bright red, they were talking in loud voices as they watched the woman dance.
“Luke,” Mark nudged him in the side, “let’s get out of here. Now.”
Luke frowned at him. “We just got here.”
“We should go,” Mark said. He was staring at the table of drunk men with an odd look on his face.
Luke studied the table of men as well. “Look, I don’t want to be here anymore than you do, but we need to stay at least an hour before we bail. We’ll have a couple drinks and make some small talk and then we’ll...”
He trailed off as he caught sight of the waitress who was serving the table of eight men. She was dressed in the same outfit as their waitress, her dark hair was in a high ponytail and her perfect skin was covered with a thick layer of makeup but he still recognized her.
“What the fuck?” He said.
“Luke, let’s go – you can talk to her tomorrow,” Mark said as he glanced at Pierre and Julien. Both men’s gazes were glued to the woman on the stage and Mark grabbed at Luke’s arm when he stood.
“Let me go!” Luke yanked his arm free and strode across the club. He took the waitress’ arm and without looking at him, she said, “No touching, please.”
“No touching,” he repeated and she froze before looking over her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?” She said in a low voice.
“What am I doing here? What am I doing here?” His voice was rising and she made a shushing motion before glancing nervously at the bar. “Jane, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Hey, are you gonna take our order or not?” One of the men slurred.
“Be right with you, sugar,” Jane said. Luke’s gut tightened when the man studied her small breasts and licked his lips.
Jane pulled free of his grip and glanced again at the bar before heading towa
rd the corner farthest from it. Luke followed her and glared at her.
“What are you doing here, Jane?” He studied the kitten ears on her head and the way her small breasts were nearly busting out of the tight bustier. She wore dark eyeshadow and false eyelashes and her lips were painted a dark red.
“Working, obviously,” she said. “Why are you here?”
“Julien and Pierre insisted we come here,” he snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me you worked at a goddamn strip club?”
“Why do you think?” She retorted before glancing at the bar. A dark-haired man wearing a knit cap and a vest without a shirt was leaning against the bar and staring at them. Both arms were covered in tattoos and he raised his eyebrows at Jane in a silent question.
She waved at him and stared up at Luke. “I need to get back to work. Can we talk about this later?”
“Do you dance?” He asked.
“What?”
“Do you dance on stage as well?”
“No. I just waitress.”
He tried to hide the relief on his face but he must have done a piss poor job because she immediately bristled. “The women who dance here are good people and if you’re going to look down on them, I - ”
“I don’t,” he interrupted. “I don’t look down on them, Jane. I just don’t like thinking that other men watch you dance or see your naked body, okay? I won’t apologize for that.”
She sighed as his gaze travelled over her uniform. “They don’t. I’ve never danced, just waitressed. I really can’t talk about this right now. My boss is here and he’s not the most,” she paused, “reasonable guy. I’ll text you later, okay?”
“I’m not leaving you here alone.”
“Luke, I’ve been working here for a long time. Please trust me that I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t reply and she chewed at her bottom lip before glancing at the bar again. “I need to go back to my table. I – I’ll try and make sure that Pierre and Julien don’t see me.”
She slipped past him and walked back to her table. Trying not to notice the way the men were staring at Jane’s ass, he returned to his table and sat woodenly next to Mark.
“You okay?” Mark said.