“Because she’s mine,” I admitted it readily, especially since she'd been in my bed and I claimed her. The only thing left to finalize that was to forego the condom and fill her with my seed. Marking her with my scent.
Ford grunted. “Really?”
“Yes, really. She’s mine, Ford.” My brother opened his mouth, no doubt to lecture me, but I shoved my hand in front of him to cut him off. “Don’t fucking lecture me on company policy or any of that bullshit. She’s mine.”
Silence filled his office as we stared each other down. I wasn’t backing off. Not on this.
“Emma Sanders gave notice on Monday,” Ford said, his tone even, completely unlike mine. “She is, at this very moment, at a meeting with her new transition team at Miller and Walsh.”
“She quit?” She'd never mentioned it. But, she hadn't said all that much besides “more” and “please” and my name after I'd gotten her panties off. We hadn't had that much time for pillow talk with her walking out and all.
“She did,” Ford confirmed. “Her work here was only temporary. Being my secretary isn't a career job for her. She's too smart for that. She was only sticking around until she finished her master’s.”
Yeah, she was too fucking smart to be Ford's paper-pusher forever. Knowing she'd had a plan all along, that she had her head on straight, only made me admire her more.
Shit. I was a selfish prick because I wanted her just one floor down, not two blocks away. Two blocks. I could live with that, as long as she came home to me every night.
Ford leaned back in his chair, steepled his fingers. “What’s going on between you and Emma?”
“I’m going to marry her, that’s what’s going on.”
Ford laughed like a bachelor who didn't have his heart—and his dick—in knots for one particular woman. “Does she know that?”
“No.”
He laughed harder and I flipped him off as I stood and walked out of his office. “But she will.”
I got the hell out of there, completely uninterested in being around if Emma wasn’t. I’d already cleared my schedule with Tori yesterday after I’d heard Emma’s plans to get laid. My plan had been to take her home, seduce her and convince her to stay. She wasn’t supposed to run scared at the crack of dawn. No. She was supposed to be in my bed all damn day where I could tell her I wanted her, forever, pamper her with kisses, and fill her with my cock.
* * *
Emma
As soon as I walked through the door, I kicked off my heels, stripped out of my navy suit and swapped it for a pair of yoga pants and a faded university t-shirt. Using a washcloth, I wiped away my makeup, wiped away the long day. I'd done it. It was official. I was a Junior Finance Assessor.
I'd looked forward to the day I'd start my real job for months, the job that was the first rung on the corporate ladder. A job as a financial investigator. I wanted to find discrepancies and solve them. I liked numbers and figuring out problems and the job they offered me was just what I'd hoped for. And more. I could pay off my loans while doing exactly what made me happy. Landing the role at the prestigious Miller and Walsh only made the excitement that much better.
As I rinsed the cloth and laid it over the edge of the sink, my mind veered away from my new job to Carter. The night we shared. The aching between my thighs. I'd barely been able to shift in my chair at the orientation without being reminded of what we'd done. I may have walked out of his house, but he'd been with me all day.
I'd gotten exactly what I'd wanted. Glancing at myself in the mirror, I wondered if anyone could tell I was no longer a virgin. Pulling my hair back, I tied it up into a sloppy ponytail. I didn't look different. I definitely felt different. My pussy was sore, deep inside, but I didn't mind. If that was all I could take with me of Carter, then it was worth it. The ache in my body would fade. But the one in my heart wouldn't. Not for a good long while. It was good timing then, that we wouldn't be in the same building any longer. Seeing him every day, seeing him with other women, would slowly kill me.
So I put on my big girl panties and accepted last night for what it was. A one-night-stand. I now knew what it was like to be fucked. Considering stories I’d listened to my girlfriends tell, I was lucky in that Carter had been good. Not just good, he'd been incredible. But he'd also been sweet about it. There were so many things I loved about Carter, especially being held in his arms all night. I'd liked that… a lot.
That was why my heart hurt… a lot. For me, one night wasn't enough. I was the kind of girl who wanted more. The house, the kids, the dog, the minivan even. I wanted it all with Carter, but I was kidding myself. I rolled my eyes at myself in the mirror.