"I thought we were going to remain professional at work."
Finally, she appeared to back down. Her shoulders hunched slightly and she didn't stand as tall. Her weakened confidence struck a nerve in me, and I found myself wanting to provoke her further, if nothing more than to see the light in her eyes again. I didn't want her angry with me, but I didn't want this meek version of her, either.
Without thinking twice, I gathered her into my arms, pulled her against me until our bodies pressed together and aligned in all the right places. Her eyes widened and her lips parted, just in time for my mouth to cover hers. She attempted to fight me, placing her hands on my chest between us, but she didn't get far before giving in.
I swallowed her moan as she gripped my shirt in both hands, arching her body and opening her mouth for me. With my hands on her hips, I lifted her, setting her on her desk. Instantly, her legs wound around mine. I leaned into her, forcing her to hold onto me tighter to keep from losing her balance.
"Dane … " she murmured into my mouth. Her grip loosened enough for her to slide her hands to my belt, where she made a frantic attempt to unbuckle it. When I rolled my hips against her, she practically purred my name again.
I knew this was wrong, this would only make everything worse, but I couldn't stop it. Even if I'd wanted to. She felt so good against me, as if our bodies were made for one another. The way it felt to be with her, inside her, the other night ran through my mind, and I craved that feeling again.
I needed it.
I had to have it.
I slid my hand up her thigh, beneath the hem of her tight skirt. But I didn't let that stop me. I pressed on until my fingertips met the warm flesh of her bare ass. Needing to be closer to her, I hiked her skirt up around her hips and continued to thrust my covered erection against her, eliciting whimper after whimper from her.
Then she lowered my zipper.
And everything stopped.
19
"Wait, wait, wait. Dane, we can't do this." Eden pushed against my chest and forced me to retreat a few steps. She used the space to slide off the desk and right her skirt. My pants were still undone, and I made no move to correct the situation, too stunned to do anything. "This isn't professional."
"I'm sorry. You're right. I guess I got caught up in the moment." I turned to head into my office through the adjoining door. "It won't happen again. Email me those notes, please," I said solemnly while finally having enough sense to fix my zipper.
I didn't bother to close the door behind me, not used to shutting it while she was in her office. So I didn't hear her follow behind me, and only knew of her presence when she started speaking to my back. "In order for this to work, something like that can never happen again. And you can't treat me differently, either. You aren't allowed to be mad at me for stopping you from fucking me against my desk."
I turned around. The entire span of the office stood between us, yet it felt like the space spanned continents. She'd never felt farther away. "If you have the right to question my faithfulness, then I have the right to be upset. Don't worry-I won't take it out on you. I won't treat you differently. I'm fully aware of the sexual harassment laws."
Her shoulders slumped and defeat crossed her eyes. "That's not what I'm saying. I'm not going to accuse you of anything. I just don't want you to mope around or act like I stole your favorite toy. Eventually, someone will catch on, and right now with everything going on with Gabi and your arrest, we can't afford to have people around here talking about us, too."
I scoffed and scratched my chin. "But you did steal my favorite toy."
Eden rolled her eyes and waved me off. "Good. Make jokes. It's easier that way." And then she returned to her office. Although, my heart fissured a little more when she closed the door behind her. As if that wasn't bad enough, the blinds on the window between us were closed, and for the first time, I wished I'd had them installed on my side of the office.
Within minutes, I had Eden's email, full of the notes from her meeting with Janette. I wasn't surprised to find she'd excused Gabi's hospitalization as stress induced following the miscarriage, stating "it had been building over time until the future Mrs. Kauffmann decided to seek treatment." I hated how Janette had referred to Gabi as "the future Mrs. Kauffmann," but I understood the reasons for it-needing to paint me as a family man worried about his fiancée. I think it pained me more knowing Eden had to listen to it, and then type it up for me. As for my arrest, she'd kept it vague and reiterated that no charges were pending.