Winter Heat

by Kennedy Fox

  Okay. Adam was losing it. “I have to get ready for work. Let’s talk about this tonight, okay?”

  Adam kept rambling as I got up and ran to take a shower, his voice fading in and out as I got ready. “Did you know that The United Nations Charter was drafted and ratified in San Francisco in 1945? Also, Redwood trees helped save the city from the 1906 fire. Redwood has low resin content and a porous grain, which takes in lots of water. When fire reached a building made of redwood, they didn’t burn as quickly.”

  Yep. I broke my best friend.

  Chapter 4

  “He’s waiting for you in the conference room,” Nikki said while chewing on her nails. “He’s been in a volatile mood all morning. When Mary called, I thought he was going to combust.” Nikki, Vaughn’s assistant, had worked for the Jet Times for forty-seven years. She was an older woman with a deep Brooklyn accent and eccentric fashion tastes. Her red hair was curled to perfection tight against her head. “I mean, I get why you quit, dearie but did you have to be so messy about it?”

  I smiled politely. “I’ll go talk to Vaughn,” I replied before disappearing down the hall and toward the conference room. Luckily, most of my coworkers were gone for the holidays, so I didn’t have to deal with too many awkward stares and looks. A few essential employees stayed for breaking news updates, but for the most part, we managed to schedule our publications across all platforms so that people could have the opportunity to enjoy the holidays with their family. Vaughn was big on family—obviously.

  I knocked, and his gruff voice said, “Come in, Sena.”

  I walked inside, hoping my power pencil skirt and button-up top looked okay. I took extra care to apply my makeup and do my hair. I wanted to look nice for this mess. I wasn’t sure how many more times I’d see Vaughn.

  “Have a seat.”

  I pulled out one of the chairs and sat down, averting my eyes from his cruel gaze. Yeah, Vaughn was pissed the hell off. His sleeves were rolled up, showing off his forearms, and he kept cracking his knuckles while mumbling to himself. After a long moment, he finally addressed me. “I had assumed that last night was an angry, drunken outburst that didn’t mean anything. But this morning, I received a very unsettling call from Mary. She wanted to brag about stealing you away from me—from the Jet Times.”

  Fuck. Mary had always been competitive with Vaughn. “I’m so sorry, Vaughn. I didn’t mean to quit like that. I just was so mad that you hired your brother that I—”

  “About that,” Vaughn interrupted before grabbing a folder on his desk and tossing it to me. “Before you so rudely interrupted my speech last night, I was going to announce something very big. Something I’ve been working on for a while, now.”

  I opened the folder and read the opening page. It was a letter of resignation—from Vaughn. “You’re quitting?” I asked in shock. Vaughn got up from his seat and circled the large conference table to look at me. He was dressed in a suit, but he looked ruffled. His hair was a mess. His eyes were bloodshot as if he got no sleep last night. I stared at the wrinkle on his collar and shrunk in on myself. He crouched low and grabbed my hands. I started trembling. “You kissed me last night. Do you remember that?”

  I swallowed. “No?” Flashes of Vaughn calling Adam and me leaning on him flickered across my mind.

  He stood up and pulled me to a standing position before yanking me closer. I collided with his chest and looked up at him, my mouth parted in confusion and shock. “What are you—”

  Vaughn’s lips slammed to mine. He grabbed my hips, and years of yearning flooded me. He tasted like coffee, his hard, forceful mouth demanding everything I had. I threaded my hands through his hair, moaning as he grabbed my hips and lifted me up onto the conference table. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he panted between kisses. He cupped my cheeks as he kissed me, his tongue thrusting past my lips and tangling with mine.

  Wait. He’d wanted this too?

  His lips found my jaw. My neck. My collarbone. He unbuttoned my top as he went, and my fuzzy mind tried to make sense of what was happening and what he had said. “Wait. Wait!” I said as his hands kneaded my breast.

  “I can’t wait. You can’t leave me. Jet Times needs you—”

  His words were like a bucket of cold water on my senses. I pushed him away. “Is this some weird way to get me to stay? You found out I’ve had a crush on you all these years, so you thought making out with me in a conference room would convince me not to go to San Francisco? That’s low, Vaughn.”

  My words made him smile. “You’ve had a crush on me for years?” My eyes thinned to slits as I stared at him.

  “Don’t act like you didn’t know,” I argued. After last night, I was certain that my affections were painfully obvious.

  Vaughn sauntered closer and grabbed me by the hips before pressing his forehead to mine. “I was going to quit so I could do freelance journalism, Sena. You know I’d rather be out there instead of behind a desk. Last night, I was going to announce my replacement. I wanted to hire you.”

  My heart stopped. “You were going to hire me?” Holy shit. I really fucked this up. “Why?”

  Vaughn kissed me tenderly before speaking again. “Because we’ve been working together for years. Because I know you are the right fit for this job. Because six months ago, I realized I’m irrevocably in love with you.”

  My eyes started watering. “You did?”

  “At the mafia banquet. You wore a red dress. You asked me to dance so we could get closer to one of the targets and overhear what they were saying. I don’t know. I held you close, and I realized that you were it for me, baby. Maybe I’ve always known.”

  I shook my head. I’d wanted Vaughn for years. And he loved me back? It felt like I was dropped into an alternate universe. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “You and I both know the company has huge rules against workplace relationships. I knew that if I wanted you, I’d have to finally tell my mother the truth—that I wanted to be a journalist and not the one running the paper. It took me a little while, but you’re worth the wait. I also wanted to make sure I could give you everything you wanted—everything you worked so fucking hard to earn. They wanted my brother to have a high-ranking job, which I was forced to agree to. I didn’t want a single person to think I promoted you because I was in love with you. Mom hasn’t been taking the news well, but--”

  “Say that again,” I croaked.

  His face softened. “I’m in love with you, Sena. I wanted to tell you last night.”

  I grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and kissed him hard. His fingers furiously unclasped my bra, and my breasts spilled out of the lacy cups the moment he did. My skirt rolled up, and his hand found the heat between my thighs. Our teeth clashed in fiery passion as my back arched. I ached to be closer. After all this time. Finally. My fantasies were nothing compared to the feel of his hot mouth on mine.

  I worked quickly to remove his suit, relishing in the sight of every dip and groove in his torso. I nipped at his smooth skin, and it wasn’t long before teeth marks covered his chest. We’d been building up to this for ages. I didn’t care that we were in a conference room. I didn’t care that we were being loud and reckless. Our story was messy, but we’d been patient. All those long nights together, those close calls working, it had been building to this.

  He eased me back onto the table, and I searched for him with my hands, pulling and grinding against him with my sex. I wrapped my thighs around his waist, dragging my needy clit against his cock before positioning him at my entrance. Fuck yes.

  “I’ve wanted this for so long,” I whispered as he teased me with the head of his cock.

  “We’re idiots. I could have had this perfect cunt years ago?” Vaughn said in disbelief while shaking his head. He then pulled away and dragged his finger down my dripping pussy before dipping it inside, moaning at how wet for him I was. “You’re perfect, Sena.”

  “This is real, right? I’m not still drunk on Bloody Mary
s and dreaming?” I asked as he slid his finger out and brushed the pad of his thumb along my clit, making me writhe and buck from the sensation.

  “This is very real,” he promised before kissing my neck once more. He sucked on my sensitive skin while massaging my nub. I jerked and cried out. He moved faster and faster until I was on the edge of coming. “Don’t scream too loud. Don’t want everyone to hear you,” he teased.

  Fuck. This was bad. We really shouldn’t be doing this.

  He grabbed both my wrists and pinned them above my head. He pressed me into the hard, cold conference table with his body, pinning me down. “You’re mine. You come only for me,” he growled. “You’re not leaving, Sena. You can’t leave.”

  He slid in easily; I was so slick and needy that there was hardly any resistance. He was so thick. I felt filled to the brim with his cock. “You feel so perfect, baby,” he groaned. The noises in his chest were deep grunts that made me vibrate. “You good?” he asked before thrusting.

  “Harder, Vaughn,” I begged. He slammed into me on the conference table until my legs shook. The sounds of our slapping skin filled the room. He held me down, and I loved how his body pressed against mine, like he was determined to keep me here with brute force.

  We kept like that, frantically fucking until there was nothing left. We both came hard and fast, our orgasms ripping through us with loud moans of approval. It didn’t matter where we were. We were so lost to the pleasure that there was nothing left.

  Panting, we both lay there on the table for a moment while catching our breaths. My chest heaved up and down as I stared at the tiled ceiling. Sweat dripped down my spine, and I let out a nervous giggle. Holy shit. I just fucked Vaughn.

  “When are you calling Mary to tell her that you aren’t accepting the job?” Vaughn asked.

  His question was sobering.

  I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell Mary no just yet.

  “I’m going to look over her offer first,” I admitted before sitting up and searching the conference room for my clothes.

  “What?” Vaughn asked while sitting up. He ran his hand through his hair and stared incredulously at me.

  I swallowed before slipping off the table. “I’m going to look over her offer first,” I repeated.

  “Why?”

  “Because it might be a good opportunity for me.” Everything was happening too fast. Holy shit, I just fucked Vaughn. Vaughn! What was I doing?

  I rummaged around the room and picked up my discarded shirt and skirt. “What about us?”

  I paused, my resolve crumbling at the vulnerability in his tone. “I’ve been waiting for you for seven years, Vaughn. Yesterday made me realize that I’ve been making all my decisions based on you, long before you realized that we could be great together. You didn’t even talk to me about any of this when you realized you had feelings for me. In fact, you didn’t really care until the possibility that I would leave came up. How can I trust that this is true, huh? It’s just really sudden…”

  “Sena. I just poured my fucking heart out to you, and you’re breaking it.”

  I shrugged on my shirt and skirt before finally turning to look at him. His eyes were weary with emotion, and his shoulders were weighed down. I felt bad. I wanted to hug him. Vaughn had the power to give me everything I could possibly want, but I needed to take a hard look at my life and make sure that this was still what was best for me.

  “Can you just give me some time to process all of this?”

  “We don’t have time. You’re about to leave me before we even started.”

  I walked up to Vaughn and tried to keep as calm as possible. I wanted nothing more than to curl up with him and cuddle, but we couldn’t do that right now. I needed to think. “I’ll call you. This is just moving really fast.”

  Vaughn lightened a bit at my words. “We could be so great together, Sena.”

  “I just want to make sure this is real. I want to figure out what feels right. And to be honest, I’m not sure I want to work with your brother as my second in command. I also don’t know how I feel about working here without you. I just need time, okay?”

  He licked his lips, averted his eyes, and nodded. “Okay. But I’m not letting you get too lost in your own thoughts, Sena. I’m picking you up tonight at eight. You can’t run from me. You can’t run from this.”

  I wasn’t expecting such a steadfast declaration.

  “Okay,” I whispered before debating on whether or not I should kiss his cheek. The boundary between us had been obliviated. Vaughn made the decision for me, though, and leaned forward to kiss me goodbye.

  “See you tonight,” he murmured against my lips. A shiver traveled down my spine.

  “See you tonight,” I agreed.

  Chapter 5

  “I shouldn’t have agreed to this,” I mumbled while looking at myself in the mirror. Adam was sitting, his spine straight as a board, on my bed.

  “Did you know San Francisco is most known for its sea food? I’m allergic to shellfish, Sena. This move could very well kill me.”

  Adam was still stuck on this San Francisco issue. He kept word vomiting facts about the city and looking for jobs at one of the universities there.

  I smoothed out my velvet tank top and adjusted the sleeve on my chunky knit sweater before turning to face him. “Adam?” I said cautiously. “You do realize if I take this job that you don’t have to come with me, right? Your career is here. Your apartment. You have the entire subway system memorized.”

  “But you won’t be here,” Adam replied with a scoff while staring at his laptop.

  My heart swelled. Adam didn’t do affection or over the top declarations, but that simple statement was the equivalent of saying I love you, dumbass.

  “I’m going to take this decision very seriously, Adam.”

  He let out a slow exhale before closing his laptop and looking at me. “I think you are right to consider everything. It’s been psychologically proven that humans tend to want something when they realize they can’t have it—men in particular.”

  Yes! Exactly! Adam just got it. “I know. The fact that Vaughn announced his fucking love for me the day after I quit is really absurd.”

  Adam cocked his head to the side. “Oh, I’m not talking about Vaughn.”

  Well, that was a surprise. “You aren’t?” I asked.

  “Vaughn offered you himself and the career you’ve been fighting for, but your first instinct was to run. I think it’s smart to take this very seriously, because from a logical standpoint, your refusal makes no sense. You got what you wanted.”

  “But it doesn’t feel right,” I argued. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “Perhaps you’re just scared. I think it’s ridiculous that you’re mad at Vaughn for not acting on his feelings of six months when you’ve loved him for seven years. If you wanted him, you could have stated your intentions long ago.”

  Shit. Adam was right. I knew he was right. There had been plenty of opportunities to tell Vaughn how I felt. There was just always something stopping me. And now that I had him, I was pumping the brakes. I put on my boots and searched for my jacket as Adam followed me with his gaze.

  “A lot of things make me uncomfortable,” Adam murmured. “Large crowds. Street vendors that don’t follow proper food safety protocols. One-dollar bills. Bathtubs. Youths. The dust bunnies under your dresser that are made up of dead skin cells. The texture of yarn. Cows. My Uncle Jerry. Tornados. Unmatched socks. Blood diamonds. Termites. Bedbugs. The entire continent of Australia…”

  “That’s quite a list you’ve got there,” I replied before grabbing a soft scarf and putting it on.

  “But you’re not scared of anything,” he replied in a monotone voice. “I like that about you.” Adam picked up his leather messenger bag and put away his laptop. “Enjoy your date. Please stick to a limit of three drinks. There is a seventy percent chance of snow.”

  I smiled. “Thank you, Adam. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
>
  He nodded and let himself outside, and I sat down and waited for Vaughn to arrive.

  “You look beautiful,” Vaughn said while holding my hand. We were walking down the street, enjoying the various buildings lit up with Christmas lights while dodging tourists.

  I blushed at his compliment. Vaughn had probably told me I looked beautiful a million times, but it had always felt polite and platonic. Right now, I felt like I had his full attention, and I loved it. “Where are we going?” I asked once again. Vaughn had refused to tell me.

  “Somewhere every New Yorker has to go to at least once,” he replied mischievously.

  It wasn’t until I saw the giant ice-skating rink that I knew for certain what Vaughn had planned. “I’m going to make an idiot of myself and fall down!” I rushed out, my eyes wide as I watched a woman fall on her ass.

  “Sometimes we have to do things we’re scared of, Sena,” Vaughn replied, the true meaning of his words washing over me as he guided me to the line to get rental skates. “And if you fall, I’ll fall bigger so people won’t even notice your failure.”

  “You’re such a gentleman,” I replied with a wink.

  It took us about ten minutes to get skates and find a bench. Once we sat down, I started unlacing my boots, but Vaughn stopped me. “Allow me,” he whispered before kneeling at my feet and easing the stiletto boots off my feet. I watched him with a pounding heart and hooded eyes as he eased the skates onto my feet and laced them up. Holiday music played all around us, and happy couples kissed under hanging mistletoe around the arena.

  Once I was laced up, he moved to sit beside me and put on his own ice skates. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Vaughn asked.

  I knew this question was coming. I wasn’t really sure how to answer it. Honesty was simple, though. “I was scared. What if you rejected me? What if you didn’t see me that way? What if it ruined our friendship or made working together awkward?”