Holly was waiting by the front doors downstairs dressed in a simple black dress with a thin jacket pulled over it. It was warm right now, unusually so in the city. She had her hair loose around her shoulders and she glanced at him with a shy smile. “Did they suspect anything?”
“They were too busy watching your ass on the way out.” He replied dryly as she shook her head.
“Let them. They’re a great bunch of guys but I’m not into anyone that way.” Holly assured him as they stepped out onto the crowded sidewalk. “What do you like? I’m vegetarian so that might complicate things a bit.”
“Not at all. How about we cab it to Blossom?” Aaron offered, trying to lean that way a bit himself.
“Let’s walk.” She challenged him and he grinned at her.
“It’s nice out. This has been a good Fall.”
“Lead the way.” Holly secured her bag on her arm and started down the sidewalk as she remained silent for a moment.
“Is this going to be a problem?” Her voice was hesitant as he looked at her.
“Lunch?” Aaron asked, needing her to tell her what she wanted.
“Maybe. You’re my boss, Aaron. I work for you. I know that I’m not supposed to date any of the players even though anyone in the industry knows that it happens. I assume that goes for the boss as well?” Holly questioned as he looked forward. “I don’t want to risk your job or mine but I was risking that going to the interview. I knew that I was attracted to you.”
“I knew that I was when you walked into the room. I want to kick all of their asses when they look at you the way they do.” His confession was low and rough as he watched her shiver, her nipples forming into hard points as the breeze blew the jacket open.
“So we’re doing this,” she said slowly, looking at him for a long moment.
“I want to if you do.” Aaron told her, watching her blush and nod. They kept walking, talking softly about their lives as the city faded around them. She didn’t talk about the attack, though he didn’t expect her to. Aaron just wanted to know what she was comfortable with as a result of it, since he wasn’t known to be gentle in bed. Aaron also kept his private life under the radar so he doubted she’d know anything about that, knowing that it wasn’t as wild as anyone had heard anyway. She was complex and smart, observing so much about life for someone as young as she was.
They reached the place and he opened the door for her as someone walking out called out his name. Aaron stepped outside to greet the crowd of two guys and two girls, taking a picture for them as he watched Holly wait inside with a smile on her face. He didn’t expect a lot of paparazzi around for himself, but he had a habit of being careful.
This was wrong for both of them to do on some level. It was forbidden, but he’d deal with that later. Once he was inside, they ordered tea and their entrees as he looked at her face in the sun. “You are so damn beautiful. No wonder the boys get distracted when you are around. How do you handle so much attention?”
Holly frowned and sipped the iced tea as it was set in front of them. “I focus on work, Aaron. I am not here to get promoted because I slept with someone as I’ve had that offer in the past. I turned it down. I can admit that some of the men I’ve worked with are very handsome and my friends have asked me how I resist them in what they call an intimate situation.” She shook her head. “Seeing them in pain isn’t intimate to me. It’s time to work to make them better for the next time out there or the next day and to help the doctor.” He frowned as she spoke, realizing how shallow his time with the therapist had been as he looked back. “I don’t want to be with you for my job. I am just really attracted to you.”
She was honest about it and he appreciated that over the ways other women had approached him, seeing her heart on her sleeve. “I think we should keep this completely outside of work, to be honest. I am going to be around a lot, in part because of you, but they won’t know that. I just want to see the team grow and that’s what they’ll know.” They shared a long look as their food came, heated and wanting as she forced herself to look down at the food with a deep breath.
He felt a little nervous as they ate, asking more questions about the UFC as she answered them with a lot of laughter. It had been very fun for her when the guys were working out or preparing for a fight, but the actual events were tense for her. She’d sat in the front row with the rest of the crew, ready to run and do whatever needed if someone decided to fight nasty. Holly was actually a fan of the newer rules of fighting in hockey, which made him chuckle. Aaron wasn’t a big fighter in his time but he liked a little badmouthing on the ice here and there.
They paid the bill and walked out to head to their part of town, comfortable as they walked closer together but didn’t hold hands. Aaron wanted to but he wanted things to look professional for the public since she’d already been through so much. Once they reached his building, he asked her where she lived as they paused on the sidewalk. It was a few blocks further and he licked his lips as he looked into her eyes. “Want to come in? I can order in some dinner later and we can get to know each other.”
“I…should we?” Holly asked, her green eyes heavy with need as she stared at him. They both knew what would happen if she said yes, and he nodded.
“I won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with, Holly.” Aaron promised her, telling his cock to calm down as it hardened painfully. “I'm not that guy.”
“Yes. I want to.” They walked into the building as he greeted the doorman and led her to an elevator. “This is a nice building.”
“I bought the apartment a few years into playing with the team. It suits me.” Aaron replied, wondering what her apartment looked like as he realized he might not see it at all. He pushed the button for the twentieth floor as her eyes widened, moving a bit closer to her in the empty car.
“Mine is just on the third floor.” Holly admitted, watching as he joined their hands together with the same eyes.
CHAPTER FOUR
Aaron opened his door just a few steps away from the elevator, his heart picking up the pace in his chest as he watched her walk in slowly. She smelled like a mixture of cherries and lime, something he hadn’t noticed until he was this close to her. Her hair bounced around her lean shoulders, looking loose and free as she looked around the large living room. “This is beautiful, Aaron. I mean, I’ve been in places like this but wow.”
“You’ve traveled in some good circles in your business.” Aaron walked over to the shelf to drop his keys into the bowl of rocks and looked at her. “It still takes you by surprise though, yeah? You didn’t grow up with money, did you?”
“We just did okay. Average really. I worked hard in school to get my scholarship and take as much as I could early so I could work sooner.” Holly admitted, smiling as she spoke about her family. “They’re in Kentucky with my sister. Abby is in tenth grade and Dad works for the State while my mom is a travel agent. They’re very happy but they’ve always been simple. I guess I feel guilty sometimes for what I’ve seen but I help them out when I can.” She looked around again. “New York has really been overwhelming to me.”
“I grew up over in Philadelphia. Dad moved them here when I started playing for the team though they have a house out on Long Island. Mom isn’t a fan of city life.” Aaron told her, watching as she walked over to him. “Dad did well investing what he made at the bank as a manager and mom sold houses part time. My two older sisters are married to nine-to-five guys and have families out there as well. They taught me to work hard for what I have.”
“You have.” Holly murmured, dropping her bag onto the floor by the couch and licking her lips. “I can’t believe I am going to kiss Aaron Neller.”
“Are you?” He asked her in a husky voice, feeling her response in the way that she threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his softly, guiding the kiss before she moved his mouth against hers slowly. Holly moved to her tiptoes as she took a deep breath through her nose and parted her lips for him, inviting him to taste her mouth as he pulled her closer. Aaron slid his tongue against hers slowly, dragging out the feeling of it as his body started responding.
He’d kissed a lot more women than he’d actually slept with, but nothing had ever felt the way her hot mouth did as he dragged his tongue back over hers harder as she moaned against him. It was intoxicating and he slid his hands up and down her body over the jacket before she pulled away to shrug it off. Her lips were swollen and pink as she stared at him with a drunken look, making him want to shove her against the wall and kiss her into oblivion. Aaron had to remind himself that she’d been through something awful even though desire was the only thing that he saw in her eyes as she looked around the room slowly. “This is surreal,” Holly told him as she sank onto the couch and leaned back, inviting him with her eyes.
Aaron joined her, pulling her face to his to claim her lips roughly in a deep kiss that she immediately returned, tilting her head to allow him to go in harder. He kissed her with everything that he had as his cock hardened and his nerve endings twitched with need, careful not to push her too far as she whimpered against his lips. Holly moved over him, pushing the dress up to straddle him as she sucked his tongue between her lips and moved against him with a slow movement of her hips. He gripped her ass with one hand and let the other drag in her hair as he guided her movements, their kisses getting careless and sloppy as she moved against him in a torturous movement. “Holly…I want you so bad.” Aaron told her as he pulled away, closing his eyes and taking a breath. “How much do you want from me, baby?”