“Alix—”
I rake my fingers through his soft hair and crush my mouth to his. My head spins, but even so, I feel his lips stiff and unsure beneath mine. I flick my tongue along his bottom lip, but he doesn’t open his mouth to me. Then again, I didn’t expect him to.
I almost smile.
I suck his bottom lip into my mouth and bite down. With a gasp, his mouth opens and I slip my tongue inside. The second my tongue glides against his, he grips my hips and pulls me harder against his hard body. God, it feels good. My body is on fire. The heat burns white-hot inside of me, forcing my organs to coil tighter and tighter. Finally I’m getting the spark I wanted in the first place. I can feel it emanating from his pores—his excitement, his eagerness—he wants it as much as I do. I trail my fingers down the sides of his face and onto the top button of his shirt. Our lips separate for the briefest moment and all I can hear are unsteady gasps for air. It’s a beautiful sound—a perfect sound. I feel his fingers curl around the hem of my dress and our eyes lock as he slowly inches the fabric higher. As it rises over the curve of my ass, a distinct ringing sound fills the air. Our eyes lock and I pray he chooses to ignore it. I need this now. I need him to be inside me.
“I should get that,” he pants, his hands leaving my dress.
Words can’t even begin to explain the disappointment that is currently coursing through me. I shift my weight off of him and sit back in my spot, as he retrieves his phone from his pocket. I touch my fingers to my swollen lips, and then straighten my hair and dress.
“Hello?” He answers. “Yes. I’m at lunch… okay. I’m on my way.”
He hangs up the phone and taps it awkwardly against his thigh. I avoid eye contact as he blows air from his cheeks. “I have to go.”
Of course he does. I nod and he pushes himself off of the couch before slipping his phone back into his pocket. I watch as he runs the palms of his hands over his shirt, but it isn’t going to help straighten out the creases I’ve created along the bottom. It’s hard trying to hide the pout from my face, but I think I manage as I force myself to my feet. The last thing I want is for him to see my disappointment. To feel such a thing after a single lunch is absolutely embarrassing and completely unwarranted.
I walk with him over to the front door. The silence between us is awkward and I’m willing to bet my skin is as pink as his. As he steps past the threshold, he turns around.
“Call me when you want to plan the next lunch. I’m going to be out of town for the next three days so preferably, after that.”
I nod. “Okay.”
With a subtle smile, he turns back around and proceeds down the stairs. As he disappears around the corner, I shut the door and slump against the hard wood. All of my previous animosity about his lack of experience is gone, replaced by an eagerness to get back to where we started. Why? Because I’m an idiot. Because I’m searching for an adventure in all of the wrong places, and because I want what all of my favorite heroines have… someone who just ‘gets’ me.
Chapter Six
Alix
Cold water streams from the shower jets and my entire body stiffens as its icy runnels wash away my lunch with Jesse. I’m not a fan of cold water, but it’s a ‘go-to’ arousal diffuser for some of my favorite characters.
My fingers splay on the glass and I swear Four is smiling smugly up at me. I always imagine this reaction from him when I do something stupid. I don’t have to be a genius to know I shouldn’t have kissed Jesse, but in my defense, when books come into a conversation I’m pretty much sold. Foreplay doesn’t get much better than that.
Despite the subtle flirting and heavy kiss, I’m not taking a shower because I want to. An hour after Jesse left I received a call from Marise. He asked me to come in… on my day off. Normally, I accept without hesitation, but today when Marise asked¸ it took me a little while to give in. I know the chances of running into Jesse are slim to none, but still. What happened here today was a little embarrassing and to be stopped by a phone call makes it so much worse because your mind wanders, wondering how far it would have gone if there was no interruption. Would we have ended the deal early? Would he have stopped it? Would it clear the air between us from that very first night or make it worse? There are so many ways this problem can go and I can’t sugar coat it. Most of them head south.
Keeping the gossip from Sadie and Marise is going to be hard too, but there’s absolutely no way they can know about it. Sadie might be able to keep a secret, but Marise hasn’t kept a secret a day in his life. If word gets around that I’m ‘seeing’ the boss, who knows what kind of harm it could do. Marise would never spread a rumor or an ‘assumption’ but if he knew for a fact… then he has no reason not to share it with everyone else. With a heavy exhale, I turn and hit the tap. When the water shuts off, the goosebumps that cover my flesh grow more prominent as the cool air clings to me. I have fifty minutes to be ready and at work. I have fifty minutes before I have to put on the fakest smile and pretend I’m still not flustered from a heated session with the boss’s son. Fifty minutes is plenty of time to cool down and gather my wits.