And he recently hired me to decorate his new office space in Tacoma.
“Hey, girl,” he says, walking around my desk to give me a hug. “How’s it going?”
“Pretty good, actually.” He sits on the other side of my desk. “Sorry I had to postpone our meeting.”
“No biggie. I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with it.”
We spend the next hour looking at 3-D images of his office with different options for seating, desks, colors, and other details.
Finally, once he’s decided on the option he likes the best, we stand and stretch.
“It’s going to be gorgeous,” Alex says, smiling. “You’re good at what you do.”
Yes, I am.
“Thank you.”
“You know, Libby and I broke up a couple of months ago.”
“I hadn’t heard. I’m sorry to hear that. I figured you two would tie the knot.”
“Yeah, well.” He shrugs a shoulder, and then a smile spreads slowly over his face, and I realize that he’s about to come on to me.
Well, shit.
“Don’t look at me like that, Alex.”
“Noel, I think we’d be good together.”
“You’re on the rebound, that’s all. Besides, you’re a client, and more importantly, you’re my friend. Let’s not screw that up, okay?”
“Yeah.” He sighs and looks sad, and I can’t help but feel bad for him. So I walk to him and give him a hug.
“Everything’s going to work out,” I assure him.
“You can’t blame a guy for trying, right?”
I laugh and kiss his cheek.
“What the fuck is this?”
I pull away from Alex and scowl at a very angry Reed, who’s currently lurking in my doorway. His hands are fisted at his sides, and he’s glaring daggers at both Alex and me.
“I’m Alex, and I’m just leaving.”
Without an apology, Alex kisses my cheek, walks past Reed, and saunters out of my office.
Reed steps inside and closes the door behind him.
“Who the hell is that?”
“A childhood friend.” I cross my arms over my chest. “And a client.”
“He had his hands on you.”
“He was hugging me. Or, rather, I was hugging him. Because he recently broke up with his girlfriend, and he’s sad.”
“Did he come on to you?”
I tip my head to the side, watching as Reed’s jaw tics. “Half-heartedly. I shut him down. What the hell? Are you jealous, Reed?”
“You bet your ass I’m jealous.”
I laugh and shake my head, then return to my spot behind my desk.
“I don’t find this funny.”
“I think it’s hilarious. If you can walk into this room and think that I was about to get it on with Alex, you’re blind. And if you can’t see what I feel for you every time I look at you, well, then you’re blind and dumb.”
He runs his hand through his hair in agitation.
“I wasn’t expecting you today,” I say.
“I haven’t seen you in days.” He walks to me, but I hold a hand up.
“You don’t get to touch me right now. I’m pissed. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“You kissed him.”
“On the cheek.”
“I didn’t like it.” He sighs, and I can see the fatigue on his face. I don’t say no when he crosses to me and lifts me out of the chair, then sits and cradles me. “I haven’t touched you. I missed you.”
“Okay, that’s sweet.” I brush my fingers through his disheveled hair. “I missed you, too. Even if you act like a caveman.”
“Caveman?” He lifts a brow and presses his lips to my ear. “I’m about to fuck you on your desk, Noel. How do you feel about that?”
My nipples immediately pucker. My core tightens.
“Apparently, I feel pretty good about it. But Ali’s on the other side of that door.”
“We’ll be quiet.”
He lifts me again and plants my ass on my desk. He nudges my legs apart, cradles my face, and kisses me. Deeply, as if he’s starving for me.
As if he can’t get enough of me.
One hand drifts down my chest, my thigh, and moves under my skirt. He nudges the edge of my panties aside and easily slips that magical finger into my wetness.
“Jesus, you’re slick,” he whispers.
“Even though you pissed me off, that whole jealous thing kind of turned me on.”
His brown eyes are on fire. “Yeah?”
“Oh, yeah. Honestly, if I was the one to walk in on you with a woman, I would have ripped her hair out.”
He laughs and then slips that wet finger into his own mouth to suck it clean.
Good God, he’s sexy.
He surprises me by pulling me off the desk, turning me away from him, and pushing me again, face-down this time. He gathers my skirt up around my waist, and when my ass is bare, he gives it a light slap.
I moan. I can hear the zipper of his pants give way, and the next thing I know, he’s dragging the tip of his cock up and down over my wet folds.
I want him so badly, I can’t think straight.