"Are you meeting her after? You know, so you can pick up the pieces? Be her savior?"
He chuckles. Bastard. "Yeah. I told her I'd reward her sweet cunt if she didn't cancel tonight."
My eyes squeeze closed. What can she possibly see in him? And all I can think is Jules is in serious trouble because of what I heard in the gym and what I heard just now.
There's a rustling of bags, then the door opens and closes. I'm not sure how many minutes pass before I start to breathe. But then, I pull my pants up and rush out of the stall, back down the hall, and to my office.
Grabbing the key from my pocket, I unlock my office door, glancing at the pinstriped suit in the corner that I decided to keep here in case of an emergency. This is a long fucking shot, but I don't know what else to do. And funny how I was worried ten minutes ago about jerking off in front of my windows, and now I'm stripping in front of them without a care in the world. But I change quickly.
I leave all my stuff in the office, only taking my cell and my keys. Locking the door behind me once I'm changed, I head to the elevator and press the down button. When the doors open, I walk inside and slide my sweaty hands down my pants before punching eight, the floor of Hawke and Hemingway, then I say a silent prayer that Charlie isn't planning to meet her there. But why would he? He's letting her take the fall. That's what he said on the treadmill. And something's about to go down. And it's not just me.
The doors open, and I don't know whether to get off or stay on. What the hell do I do? I didn't think this far into my plan. I'm so in over my head. I'm not a fuckin' private investigator. What was I thinking doing this? Rolling my eyes, I try to think, but I'm too late. The elevator closes.
Before it jerks into motion, I quickly pull the stop, then run my hands through my hair while I pace around the car. Shit. Skatá. Shit.
The last thing I need is for her to get on the other one. What if I'm too late, or I miss her? What if she's already left? This was such a bad fucking idea.
I'm just going to go to her office, see if she's there, and try to stall her. That's the only reasonable option. No. I shake my head. What if Charlie's there? He won't be. He's setting her up for something. That's the only option, Theo.
Pulling the stop, the doors open back up, and my heart fucking stops. I can't believe what I'm seeing. Jules. In. That. Fucking. Red. Dress. It's like I'm paralyzed. Everything but my fucking cock, which immediately grows to the hardest I've ever felt. The doors start to close. No. Reaching out, I put my hand against the cold stainless steel. "You coming in?" Why the hell was that a question? Of course, if she's not coming in, I'm suddenly exiting on the eighth floor for some reason. And my brain seems to not be working. It's even worse than I anticipated. What's wrong with the air in here?
"Yeah." She smiles. Shit. It's a good thing her eyes haven't left mine because I don't know if I can nonchalantly cover up what she's doing to me, but I quickly press the button for the ground floor as she enters. She's got her stuff with her like she's leaving. I know she's going to meet skatá prósopo somewhere, so I'm just going to try to not act like I'm stalking her too much, and keep an eye on her. Ha. It takes everything in me not to chuckle. I've not been able to keep my fucking eyes off her since I saw her on that damn Facepage. It's screwing with my head. The electricity in this elevator is scorching. It's like there's a buzzing. I wonder if she hears it.
"Is it hot in here to you?"
I smirk, thinking back to the last time I talked to a woman in an elevator and how horribly I screwed that up. "Not really. But you're clearly hot." I stalk toward her. Fuck, I want to touch her. Pointing to her forehead, I tilt my head down, my lips mere inches from hers. I think back to the bathroom stall, about fucking my hand to a vision of her just like this. "You have a little bead of sweat right here." I swipe it away. My cock twitches. Dammit. I'm fucking screwed.
"Oh. That's kind of embarrassing. And gross."
I shake my head as the doors open and walk out, needing space from her. "Nothing about you is gross. You're sexy as fuck, Jules." My heart is about to beat out of my chest. I wasn't sure what she saw in Charlie, but maybe she's the mastermind of the plan. Because if she has that kind of effect on me, I'd imagine she can get whatever the hell she wants out of any man. But if she were the mastermind, why would Charlie need her to take the fall? Maybe they were in it together, but he doesn't want to go down for it, so he's going to let her take it all.
"Hey! Mystery Giant."
I chuckle and halt in my tracks, squinting my eyes as I jerk my head back around at her. She already has a pet name for me and it's cute. I want to hear her say it again. "What'd you just call me?"
She shakes her head and waves me off. Oh no, agapemèni. You don't get to do that. "Doesn't matter. How'd you know my name?"
I arch an eyebrow and mirror her gesture. "Doesn't matter, huh?"
She tilts her head. "Seriously."
This time I lift both my brows and grasp the strands of my hair. You wanna play games, Jules? I love to fucking play. "I have to go. I'm running late. And so are you, aren't you?" I'm sure my smile vanishes at the thought of Charlie being with her later like he suggested in the bathroom. It's all I can do to keep the bile down.
"How'd-"
"Doesn't matter," I say as I shove my hands in my pockets nonchalantly. "Right?"
"Mystery Giant. That's what I called you. Now what's your name?"
I grin. Well, that'll fix the nausea that was creeping up. "You're one to call someone a giant, Jules. What are you?" I look her up and down. "Five eleven without heels. Poor Charlie." I glance down at her feet. "Don't you miss being able to wear those super high fuck me heels that girls like you should wear?" I had to shove my hands in my pockets to keep from touching her again after swiping that bead of sweat off her face in the elevator. It's taking every ounce of will power to not reach out and lift her jaw back up and close her mouth. She's so fucking adorable. But I think I'll continue so I can keep watching her like this. Every minute we're together, I know she's safe. "Tell me. Can you imagine living the rest of your life not being able to wear heels because your husband is shorter than you? And you know men shrink, right?"
She blinks and swallows at the same time. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"
I nod and nibble on my bottom lip. Not really. Just with you. "Yep." I continue to bob my head, like I'm trying to convince myself as I start backing away from her. Heading toward the door, my eyes never leaving hers. Fuck, this is hard. I wish I knew what they had planned so I'd know what I'm up against-how to protect her. And who am I kidding? I'm no bodyguard. Remind me how I got sucked into this gig?
"Mystery Giant?"
I nearly choke and growl at the same time. I swear my cock springs back to life every time she calls me that. "Yeah?"
"What's your full name so I can do a full background check on you since you seem to be stalking me?"
The fuck? Am I that creepy? I guess I really need to work on my skills. Between both girls in the elevators today, I'm really off my game apparently. I glance away, licking my lips. Of course, this isn't exactly an ideal situation for picking up chicks. Then, when I stare back in her pretty brown eyes, I make sure that I let my accent show through as I say, "Theo Kataigída." I can tell immediately she liked that.
"Whoa, whoa. Slow down. You're going to have to break it down for me. Maybe even spell it for me because holy hell. That's a mouthful."
Stopping dead in my tracks, I shake my head and chuckle, raking her over. I take a step closer, and she does too. "You're cute, Jules. I could sit here all day spelling out so, so many things for you, teaching you things, giving you … " My lips quirk up. "A mouthful." I take another step closer. Her breathing hitches. Ah, I love that I'm having the same effect on her she's having on me. Fuck you, Charlie. "Like how to do things with your tongue to produce certain sounds." Another step. "And how to position your mouth to enunciate clearly." In two steps, I've filled the space between us, and I can feel the heat bouncing off our bodies. "I could break down so much for you. Spell out so many things." Damn. I have to touch her again. I can't take it. My finger skims her cheek ever so softly, barely touching her skin. Like if it's just a little bit, then it won't count. My heart is racing. Goosebumps erupt over every pore of her skin that I can see. She closes her eyes and sucks in a breath. I inhale her scent of magnolia and rose. Fucking divine. "But we'll have to save all that for another day when you're not attached to a fucking asshole. I really should go."
I push through the large glass double doors into the cold, late December night. Pulling my black, leather gloves from the inside of my coat jacket, I slide them on. What the hell am I going to do now? Hide behind some bush like a real creepy ass stalker? I mean, she's going to come right behind me, right? No. I can't do that. Snapping my finger, I turn around. I should go back inside. Maybe pretend I forgot something.