Push & Pull(3)

A hand reached around the front of me, skirting its way along my waist. My eyes unfocused on the water that continued to rain down in front of me and I sighed. His hand dipped below my navel, easing into my panties while another reached around to cup my breast. A heavy groan escaped my lips as I clasped the back of his neck. His fingers probed between my thighs lovingly stroking my clit. It had suddenly become too heated for a public scenario.

I attempted to stop him and offer to exchange numbers but he grabbed my hair and steered me into the janitor’s closet. Oh shit.

“Not here. Not like this,” I said in a sultry tone.

“You act like you don’t want it,” Lucca hissed as he pawed at my top. He stopped and I sensed him step away, “You do want it…right?” No. I wasn’t supposed to at least. My profession didn’t leave room for personal fun. His hands returned to my shirt, preparing to pull it over my head as I ran my hand along his jaw. He had more stubble than I had noticed but I enjoyed the rough sensation. Just as he slid a hand underneath my top the closet door swung open. We pushed away from each other like two horny teenagers. It hadn’t gotten that far and I was ashamed to think it might have until the light cast upon our faces.

“Liam!” I gasped, the crowded space filled with just enough light to distinguish his scar. The man who had opened the closet door, a drunk no doubt, stumbled forward and smiled.

“Is this the loo?”

I exchanged looks with Liam who pointed the man in the right direction before shutting the door again. Flipping the light on, I hoped to deter the situation. Even under the fluorescent bath he was beautiful. His hands rested on my hips, pinning me gently against the door and I fought the urge to blurt out what was really on my mind.

“This was a mistake,” I stated, trying to keep my tone flat and void of any emotion. The adrenaline was still pulsing through me and it would have been nice to simply resume our rendezvous. His thumb fluttered across a little bit of skin peeking out from my jeans and the wild look in his eyes seemed to yearn for a reaction. He deserved something, a moan or perhaps a kiss as he held me firm, but I had a job to finish.

“You enjoyed it,” he whispered, brushing his cheek against my neck. The bristle of his beard made my skin crawl with desire but I pushed him away. Before he had a chance to change my mind I grabbed my jacket and ducked out of the closet. If I moved quickly, I could still catch Lucca. More bodies had flooded into the already busy restaurant obstructing my view of the table we once occupied. When I finally broke through my heart sank. He was gone.





3



I missed my mark. He was right in front of me, prime for the picking, and for some reason it wasn’t good enough. I’d never had a guy slip through my grasp in the last five years and Lucca shouldn’t have been any different. Damn, Liam. If he hadn’t of gotten in the way this could have been different. It would have been different. My fingers trembled anxiously on the keys of my telephone as I dialed Jill’s number. I should offer another pass, mention that he seemed distracted and that maybe he was pissed she’d blown him off. But as I rationalized the scenario to myself I realized he was in the best frame of mind. He should have gone for it.

“Hello?” Jill’s voice sounded confident on the other end, as if she already knew the answer.

“He didn’t go for it,” I sighed. I hoped my tone conveyed relief instead of the disappointment clouding my judgment. She let a considerable amount of silence pass before she cleared her throat.

“Good. I didn’t think he would. Lucca is a good man. You’ll see.” She didn’t sound convinced and I sure as Hell wasn’t. “Tell me how it happened.”

Reluctantly, I obliged explaining in detail how the bar scene ensued. I tried to keep Liam out of the story because the last thing Jill needed to hear was that I got distracted. Occasionally she’d interject with something snide about him knowing better and the conversation shortly became unbearable.

“Look,” I snapped, “If you trusted him so much why did you ask me to do this in the first place?”

“You needed a challenge,” she said, her tone cool and ripe with conceit.

“I can make a second pass at him if you think he’s so pure.”

“Claire. Let sleeping dogs lie.” For a moment, a hint of uncertainty betrayed her. “We can meet up and talk about this later. I’m about to go into a meeting.”

“Fine. I have to go anyway. Talk to you later,” I replied, hanging up the phone before she had another chance to speak. I was late. Another prospective client had called me that morning to schedule a chat. Punctuality wasn’t my strongest point, but I rarely missed the opportunity to help someone.