Britta shared the same expression. The elevator took off once more, and I hit the emergency stop button. The elevator bounced to a sudden halt, Britta's hands gripping the metal railing behind her.
"Hawk... what are you doing?" She was starting to freak out, claustrophobia taking hold. Slate and Harry all had the same problem.
"What are we?" I repeated.
She squeezed her eyes closed. "Start the elevator. Please just start it." She opened them and stared at the button.
"Can we not be two friends who fuck?" I asked, hoping to distract her. I didn't want us to be just that. But Britta was a take-it-slow type of girl and scaring her off wasn't on my agenda.
In response, she nodded her head and slowly reached out to press the release button, but I stopped her with my hand.
"Answer me, Britta, and I'll start it."
"Yes," she nodded her head fast. "We're friends who fuck. Now, please, start the fucking elevator." I pressed the button, and it jolted into motion. Britta instantly relaxed and as the elevator slowed to our floor, she exhaled. When the doors opened, she was first out. Taking two steps away, she turned to me and gripped my cock in her hand.
Despite it being a threat, it turned me on, and my cock started growing in her hand. Her cheeks flushed when she felt the sudden hardness in her grip but didn't relent.
"Don't ever do that again, do you understand?"
She was so fucking sexy when she was fierce. When I didn't answer straight away, she applied pressure.
"Yes," I said with a wink.
"Good," she replied, unsure whether the threat had the desired effect. She released, smiled to compose herself and turned down the hall as if nothing had just happened. The receptionist, who witnessed it all, lowered her head to hide her smile.
It seemed we'd be common knowledge before we both even knew about us.
THE DAY WAS ALMOST over when I started packing up some paperwork I'd take home. There was a knock at my door, and I yelled for whoever it was to come in. I was picking up my pen from the floor when I heard the voice that didn't belong to the blue-eyed beauty who'd earlier threatened my junk. I looked up and met the seductive gaze of the infamous redhead. The same redhead from Jarod's party, who'd launched herself into my arms, and the same redhead who Britta saw being fucked by Roman.
She looked at me like we were old flames, but for the life of me, I couldn't place her. She sauntered in, hips swaying, manicured fingernails dragging across my desk.
"You don't remember me, do you?" she asked as if reading my mind.
I think about lying to her, but know I'll be caught out.
"No," I admitted.
She raised a hand to her heart feigning offense. "That hurts. That really hurts, Hawk." She rounded the desk stopping just short of me. Her large green eyes met mine which remained expressionless. "You and I... we had a powerful night, and it breaks my heart you don't remember it." She stepped closer, so her breasts grazed my chest when she exhaled.
"I never forget a memorable lay," I said cruelly. "Now, please, leave the same way you came in."
My office door opened once more, and we both turned to see Britta strolling in. Her smile quickly faded when she saw the lady with red hair who tried to kiss me, in my personal space. She paused a moment, looked between us and then about-turned to leave without a word.
"Britta, stay..." My voice stopped her in her tracks. She turned back around, eyes nervously wandering the room. "She was just leaving, weren't you...?" I raise a brow in wait for her name.
The redhead looked to me, eyes traveling the length of my body before responding. "Rita," she said, finally revealing her name.
"Yes... Rita who I don't know... or even know why she's in my office right now... is about to leave." The redhead bit her plump red lip, but unlike when Britta did it, it did nothing for me. She smiled wickedly at me before turning to face Britta, moving with calculated steps in her direction.
"Britta, is it?"
Britta's eyes narrowed. "Yes?"
"You dodged a bullet with Roman, didn't you? Lucky you got out when you did." She turned back to me and smiled like we're old friends. "I'll see you around, Hawk. Thanks for the chat." And with that, the strange woman sauntered her way back out, leaving the air in my office thick with confusion.
"Who was that?" Britta asked, both shocked and appalled. "How does no one know her? Or am I the only one being kept in the dark?"
"Her name is Rita... apparently."
Britta shook her head. "So, you didn't know her?"
"Not a clue, but she insists on knowing me."
Britta folded her arms across her chest. "Well, that's not a surprise."
I smiled at her insinuation. "See you tonight?" I asked.
She shook her head again and sighed. I knew that sigh. It usually meant Britta was trapped between a rock and hard place. She always had a way of getting herself into these predicaments. Too fucking lovely for her own good.
"Who's the asshole taking up your time and stopping you from being in my bed, naked with me in you?"
Britta smiled, and I knew she was replaying some of the scenes from the last two nights. And then the smile faded, and the conversation turned serious once more.
"I'm meeting with Rebekah. It was supposed to be over lunch, but Kathy needed help with the makeup, so I pushed it to dinner. I'm already having anxiety about it."
"Do you think it's wise going to meet her? Especially after we just had Roman's new floozy in here?"
"All seems coincidental, doesn't it?"
"I'm not sure what the hell is going on, to be honest."
"Okay," she announced, clapping her hands together. "I'm off so I can get it over and done with."
"Make it quick," I added. "Being deprived of you for too long sends a man crazy."
She laughed on her way out, jiggling her ass by the door for the added tease.
"Keep wiggling, and I'll make that ass mine."
Chapter 15
Britta
That redheaded woman seemed to be appearing everywhere, first with Hawk then with Roman, and then back with Hawk. I didn't know how I should feel about that. Either Ms. Redhead wasn't all there, or Hawk was hiding something from me.
And then it struck me that I shouldn't even care.
In Hawk's own words, we were ‘friends who fucked.' Nothing more. We had no claim to each other, no reason to be jealous. Both Hawk and Roman were serial womanizers, and she just happened to maybe have had them both. But unlike Roman, Hawk was more business orientated now, and his womanizing ways had decreased over the years.
Walking out of the office and across the street to the restaurant, I saw Rebekah already seated and waiting for me. It was late and I was hungry, so hopefully, this meeting wouldn't take too long. She spotted me from across the room and stood to greet me. We didn't hug or kiss the way we used to. Instead, there was an awkward exchange of hand and shuffling before we both sat down.
"Thank you for coming," she said, laying her napkins across her lap.
When I went to pick up the menu, she stopped me. "Oh," Rebekah said, looking shy. "I hope you don't mind but I ordered for us. I figured you still like the same things."
Before I could respond, a bowl of carbonara was placed between my knife and fork. It smelled absolutely divine and my stomach grumbled loud enough for Rebekah to hear.
"I'm glad you approve," she said, smiling.
"Thank you," I replied gratefully. "I forgot to eat lunch and I'm starving."
I tucked into my food, but when I looked over at Rebekah, she was toying with half a cherry tomato. She wasn't smiling, and there was a sadness to her. Perhaps she'd seen for herself the real man she was married to.
"Is everything okay?" I asked tentatively. She was in a completely different mood from when I'd walked in only moments earlier.
She placed her fork down and swallowed hard.
"What did you want to talk about?" I continued when Rebekah didn't say anything.
She wiped her mouth with the napkin. "He said you would know."
I was taken aback by her words. "Who said I'd know what?"
"Roman."
"Roman? I haven't spoken to him since the wedding, and you were there for the entire conversation."
She appeared visibly sick and I realized she must know.
"You saw them together," was all she said.
I placed the fork down, my appetite suddenly gone.
"I'm not sure what you expect me to say."
"I want to know what you saw."
I could feel my blood pressure rise. "Why can't Roman fill the gaps for you?"
"Because he's a coward."
"Yeah, I know that..." I paused. "Look, Rebekah... you didn't tell me that this was the meaning of our dinner and I'm kind of feeling railroaded here."
"When I rang, it was because I genuinely wanted to see you. But after we spoke, well... things changed."
"What changed?"
Rebekah's face reddened, tears ever so close. "I caught them together."
I wasn't sure how she expected me to respond, so I didn't.
"When I confronted him about it, he got all angry and spiteful, saying I should talk to you about it. When I asked why, he left, and I haven't seen or heard from him since."
"It was a painful thing to witness, Rebekah. To be brutally honest, I just wanted to get out of there at the time."