by J. A. Huss
“I dunno.” Ming shrugs. “Looking for your schedule?”
“That asshole. It’s not my fault we didn’t have time to go over it this morning.”
“Whose fault was it?” Ming has a little grin on her face. Like she knows something.
“What are you hiding from me?” I ask, just as Paul’s jet comes to a stop inside the hangar.
“I think the better question is, what are you hiding from me?”
I stare at her, wondering if I should lie.
“Don’t do it,” Ming warns. “I see everything, Ellie Hatcher. And so does Ellen Abraham, AKA Ellen Interoffice-sexcapades. Because she has been telling everyone that she caught you and McAllister,” she says his name in a fake dreamy sigh, “in the stairwell yesterday morning having a tryst. Now the only thing I want to know is—”
“Later,” I say, standing up. “Paul is here. Later, Ming.” I rush out of the office and don’t dare look over my shoulder to see the look on her face. Because now she definitely knows, and if Ellen Abraham really did guess, or God forbid, see us, then it’s all over campus by now.
After I escort Paul to Building Three, I have to hurry back to the hangar, timing it just right so I don’t have any chance of having to wait around with Ming and her demanding questions, so I can pick up Allison Salok and escort her over to Building Ten.
I barely make it back to Adeline’s set to hear her sing, which is just beautiful. I take her back to a limo that’s waiting in front of the Atrium and tell her the plan about searching McAllister’s office. She promises to be back at six to make a scene so Ming can sneak in and get the phone.
What could go wrong?
Plenty, I’m sure, but I don’t have any time to think about it. Thursdays are crazy, which is the real reason we dress up and count the minutes to happy hour after work, so I’m nothing but a whirlwind of activity as I bustle the guests from transportation to studios.
So by the time six o’clock rolls around, I haven’t had any time to think about this plan of mine at all. I text Ming as I ride the elevator up to the seventh floor.
Ellie: I’m going in. Where are you?
Ming: You’re in the elevator. :) I’m watching. Adeline is in her limo, ready and waiting for my signal. Text me when you get him in your office and we’ll do our thing.
Ellie: K
I prepare a go-now text in my phone so all I have to do is press send and then drop my phone in my blazer pocket just as the elevator door opens. To my dismay, the whole seventh floor is still working. Including Stephanie Guards-the-door. Jesus, doesn’t anyone up here go out for drinks on Thursday nights like normal people?
“Go on in,” Stephanie calls to me as I approach the corner offices. “His office, not yours, Ellie. He left specific instructions.”
“Left? You mean he’s not even here?” I’m so annoyed.
“He’ll be back in just a minute. He had to pop down to the legal department.”
Great. Probably going to threaten me with a lawsuit or something. His door is open, so I just go in and take a seat. But then I realize, maybe Ming and Adeline don’t even need to get involved? I’m in here alone.
I get up, peek out the door to see what Stephanie is doing, and find her busy chatting with people at her desk, completely ignoring me.
I smile. And go over to his desk. It’s a huge desk. In fact, it’s not the same desk as yesterday. Not Heath’s desk, in other words.
Hmmm. Now that I think about it, a lot has changed in here in one night. All of Heath’s things are gone from the shelves. They’re empty now. There’s not one thing left of my former boss. But the oddest thing is that there’s nothing of my new boss to replace it.
I peek out the door again, just to make sure Stephanie is still busy, and then inch my way around to the executive chair and take a seat. Jesus, it’s luxurious. It must be nice to plant your ass in this thing all day long.
McAllister has a nice view of the hills, not the city. I never noticed that before. Heath had his desk on the opposite wall, and the blinds were almost always partially closed because he hated the constant sun.
Do I smell paint? Did McAllister paint the walls in here too? I don’t remember this place being so bright. Heath liked that old-school dark paneling look. Like the god-awful smoking room that is now my office.
I look down to my left and spy a stack of drawers. My fingers are just reaching for the handle when McAllister bursts in, slamming the door closed behind him. I pull away just as he lifts his eyes from a file in his hands.
“Making yourself comfortable, Miss Hatcher?”
“Sorry,” I say, standing up and scooting off around the side of the desk. He shoots me a squinted look as he drops into the chair I just vacated and I stand in front of him, my hands clasped together, feeling very nervous for some reason.
“Well,” he says, slapping the open folder down on the desk. “I have good news. You can publish the book.”
“What?”
“The book you wrote, Miss Hatcher? On company time, using company clients as your main focus?”
I can’t even with this guy. “Who the hell—”
“You do realize Stonewall employment contracts have a proprietary clause, right?”
“Proprietary clause?” Shit. I never even thought about that.
“But, as I said, good news. I pulled your contract,” he says, smiling down at the file on his desk. “Quite a lot of information in here. Lots of things I really didn’t want to look up, Miss Hatcher.”
“You read my employment file?” I ask, stunned. “That’s private.”
“Do you want to publish that book or not?”
“Yes, but that doesn’t give you the right—”
“To make sure this company doesn’t sue you? Nice repayment for my efforts, Eloise.”
“Well, McAllister, I just think it’s a little bit invasive for you to be pawing through my file.”
“But pawing my way up your dress is fine?” He cracks a smile at his joke.
“That’s inappropriate too. In fact, pretty much everything I’ve learned about you since you came here yesterday has been inappropriate. Did you know that Ellen Interoffice-sexcapades is telling everyone she caught us having a tryst in the stairs yesterday?”
McAllister frowns. “No. I’ve been out of the office all day. Just got back about an hour ago, and then I had to go down to human resources for this and talk to the lawyers. What is she saying?”
“Just telling people. Ming knew about it. I’m so fucking humiliated. Again. And it’s all because of you.”
“Ah, fuck her. She’s just jealous.”
“Ha!” I practically scream. “I cannot believe you just said that. She’s jealous of what?”
“That I like you instead of her.”
“What?” I have to take a deep breath as I roll my eyes. “Is this some kind of contest for you? A conquest? A fucking—”
“Hey,” he says, standing up and coming around to my side of the desk. “Just calm down. I’ll deal with her. But right now I want to deal with you.”
“Deal with me?” I can’t.
“Don’t be so uptight, Eloise. I have something to show you and you’re sucking all the fun out of it.”
“Well, you… you…” I have nothing that doesn’t involve the words ‘bastard,’ ‘asshole,’ and ‘prick.’
“Fun-sucker,” he says, smiling.
“I’m not a fun-sucker. For your information, I’m a lot of fun.”
“I already know that, Ellie. Preaching to the choir here. Now keep quiet and be appreciative.”
I slap him. I swear to God, I have no idea what comes over me, but my hand just flies up, hits his cheek, and makes this epic smack that hangs in the air as everything else goes silent.
He palms the red mark I made, and then smiles. “You’re not going to ruin this for me. No matter how hard you try.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I—”
But he takes my hand and starts pu
lling me towards the door connecting to my office.
Jesus, I might get lucky after all. I don’t even have to find a reason to get him in there. I reach into my pocket, ready to press send and let Ming loose on his ass.
Chapter Thirteen - Mac
“Come on,” I say, leading her over to the door. “Go ahead, open it.”
“Why?” Ellie asks suspiciously. “What’s in there? A lawyer? Are we going to have to fight out the details of this book? Because it’s none of your damn—”
“Eloise,” I say sharply, cutting her off. “Would you close your mouth and just open the door?”
She crosses her arms over her breasts.
Fucking breasts. Goddamned things are perfect. And Thursday’s dress might be sexy, but it certainly isn’t as interesting as Wednesday’s blouse. I wonder how many interesting blouses she has in her closet?
“I don’t appreciate the way you speak to me, Mr. Stonewall. It’s rude.”
“You know what?” I ask her, my patience wearing thin. She taps one of her designer shoes on the floor as she waits me out. “Never mind, I’ll open it myself.”
So I do. I twist the knob and throw the door open, revealing her office on the other side.
Her brand-fucking-new office.
“What the—?” Ellie says, uncrossing her arms and stepping into the room. “What is this?”
I smile. The old wood-paneled walls are now painted a bright white. The old metal desk is now a classic white writing desk, the heavy drapes my brother used to keep the sun at bay have been replaced with sheer white curtains, and the dark hardwood floor has a light blue rug that spans almost the entire area.
“What happened here?” Ellie asks, her eyes wide with surprise.
I shrug. “McAllister Stonewall happened.”
She actually laughs.
Finally. I finally made this girl laugh.
“When did you have time to hire a designer?”
“Designer? I got Bob from maintenance to swing by Sherman Williams and pick up some paint on his way in. Then he painted it this morning. It’s not a big room, only took about an hour. So while he was doing that I went shopping. It’s not designer, Eloise. Sorry. American Furniture Warehouse was calling my name. And it’s five minutes away.”
“You shopped for this stuff?” she asks, her fingertips tracing the light blue piping on the back of one of two white wingback chairs in front of her desk.
“Yeah,” I say, sticking my hands in my pockets and leaning back on my heels. “I did.”
“But…” She looks up at me with a weird look on her face. “Why?”
“It did smell like smoke, right? Heath’s fuck room wasn’t the right place for you.”
“Fuck room? He didn’t fuck girls in here.”
“Uh, yeah, he did, Ellie. Why do you think he had condoms in his desk drawer?”
“Gross.”
“I agree. So there you are. New office for new Ellie. I bet you’re sorry for being so bitchy two minutes ago.”
“Jesus, why do you open your mouth? You know, you had me going there for a second, but—”
“But what? How the hell can you be mad about a new office?”
“I’m not mad about the office. I love—” She stops talking and takes her phone out of her pocket, then texts whoever it is who just messaged her.
“You love what?” I ask.
She looks down at her screen for a few more seconds, then walks over to the connecting door and closes it, bending down to inspect the doorknob.
“What are you doing?”
“Checking for a lock. Did you give me this new office so you could burst in here whenever you wanted and have sex with me?”
But before I can answer there’s a huge commotion out in the Atrium. “What the hell?”
“Let me look,” Ellie says. She opens the door a crack. “Shit.”
“What?”
“Are we done here? Because Adeline is here to pick me up for drinks.”
“Adeline? You’re having drinks with Adeline tonight?”
“Yeah.” She beams a smile at me and then takes off her blazer to show off the dress. She goes from day to night in one second. I sigh, picturing how I pawed my way up her thighs this morning.
Jesus.
She drapes her jacket over the back of the desk chair, which is a very nice cream-colored leather that feels more like butter than butter. “The whole point of dressing up on Thursday is so we can go out Thursday night.”
“Right,” I say, walking over to her and slipping my hand behind her neck so I can pull her up into a kiss. She kisses me back, not even a struggle. I place my other hand on her breasts, squeezing as I slide my fingertips up into her hair and fist it. “But you haven’t seen the best part of the office yet.”
“I’m still quitting, McAllister,” she breathes into my mouth. “I appreciate the new office, but it’s not even close to enough. I’m not staying here. I’m sure the next girl will be very happy with it.”
“Don’t make up your mind yet, Eloise.”
“Don’t call me Eloise, McAllister.”
“Mac,” I say.
“Ellie,” she says back.
“We’re selling. Why not just stay until that’s done?”
“That could take years! No. I’ve been here too long and I need to fly the nest.”
I take my kisses to her ear, and she gives off a little shudder when my tongue traces the outline of her lobe. “We could have a lot of fun, Ellie.”
“I’m not your toy, Mac.”
“I’d be here every Thursday night. While you’re teasing me in your happy-hour dress.” I reach down to the hem of her dress and slide the silky fabric up her hips. She has thigh-high stockings on, complete with garter belt. Like she just walked out of a lingerie catalog. “Did you change? I didn’t even notice these this morning.”
“You were too busy attacking me, Mr. Stonewall.”
“I’d rip Thursday’s dress off you every week. Then sit you down on this desk,” I say, reaching around to her ass and lifting her up, placing her on the new desk. I position my body between her legs, one hand on each of her knees, and push them open.
“Mac,” she says, looking up into my eyes. “Why are you doing this to me? Just… Just find someone else to play office romance with.”
“I want to play with you. I’m intrigued. That whole message stream—”
“Shit,” she says, placing both hands on my chest to push me away.
But I grab both wrists and then place her hands on the growing bulge between my legs.
“I have to go,” she whines. “Adeline is waiting.”
“She’s not getting away from those fans any time soon. We can have a quickie.”
“Look,” Ellie says, trying to squirm her way out of this. “I’m really not into quickies, Mac. Seriously. I’m not the kind of girl who puts out on the first date. Hell, I don’t even put out on the third date. I’m the kind of girl who needs at least five dates before sex.”
“Five? Why so many?”
She rolls her eyes and groans.
“I’m kidding, Jesus. Five, fine, whatever. But we already had sex this morning. So how the hell do we get to five now?”
“It’s too late,” she says. “That’s my point. It would’ve been fun if I was in another place in my life, but I’m not. I’m leaving this job and I’m certainly not starting a relationship with my new boss thirteen days before that happens.”
“We’ll do five dates then. No sex for five dates.”
“What part of this aren’t you hearing? I’m not dating you.”
“I have news for you, Miss Hatcher. You are dating me. And this is date number one. I took you here, you got gifts, a little foreplay, and it counts as one.”
She tries to hide her smile by looking down at my dick, but then she gets embarrassed and flushes a bright pink. I take this opportunity to slip my hand between her legs and play with her pussy.
“Mac,” she whisper
s, placing her hand over mine. “We’re not having sex.”
I withdraw, but then grab her hand and place it where mine just was. “Fine. We won’t. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get off before you go out for a night with the girls.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I place my hand tightly over her lips and lean in. “Don’t worry, I won’t touch you. Only you can touch you. I’ll just touch me.”
Her eyes dart down to my hand as it unbuckles my belt, releases the button and zipper, and fists my long, hard cock.
She’s still staring at my hand when I wiggle my fingertips against her pussy again. “Get busy, Miss Hatcher, or I’ll have to take care of business for you.”
Ellie’s chest rises and falls rapidly, like her heart is beating wildly. God, it fucking turns me on.
“I want to rip this whole fucking dress off you, bend you over, and fuck you from behind.”
“If you do,” she says softly, “then we start the five dates over again.”
“Ahhh.” I laugh. “So we’re on, then? This is date one. But I get something too. Every date I get to tell you what to do and you have to do it.”
“Like what?” she exclaims.
“Get naked and pour me coffee? Isn’t that what office romances are all about? Maybe tie your hands with my tie? Make you bend over and pick up paperclips.” I chuckle at the stupidity of it. She’s not laughing, but that’s OK. “With no underwear on?”
“No one does that,” she says. “That’s some porn-movie fantasy that only men have.”
“Really? Only men, huh?” I finger her pussy again and she’s slick. So fucking ready. “I think you’re having that fantasy right now. So date number one, we play with ourselves until we come. Deal?”
“That’s not my idea of a date, Mac.”
God, I love hearing her say my name. “It is now. And I already explained the reasons why it qualifies. So deal?”
“What do I have to lose?” she says. “Except my dignity.”
“How am I robbing you of that by doing this? It’s fun, Ellie. And no one has to know.”
“People already know.”
“They don’t know shit. So tell me it’s a deal and we can get busy. You have no idea how much I looked forward to coming into work today just so I could see you. But we can save that conversation until tomorrow’s date. Now play with your pussy until I tell you to stop.”