I kept my eyes on my food and pushed down the fluttering feeling in my stomach. “I don’t understand.”
“What?” he asked.
“You’ve got everything. You can cook. You’re rich. You work out, and you’re one of the best lays I’ve ever had. Why haven’t you settled down?”
“It’s just not me.” He stuffed a pile of eggs in his mouth. I was certain he did it to keep from having to say anything else.
“I don’t understand why it has to be hookers.”
He kept chewing, a clear sign that the conversation was over before it started. I didn’t know what I was doing anyway. Things were starting to get dangerous. I’d seen the way Starla and Maddie looked at him. I couldn’t let myself turn sour like that. I wasn’t that kind of woman, but we were both enjoying ourselves too much. I was trapped.
I finished my food, then got up to get dressed. He grabbed me and threw me back down on the bed and flipped me over. By the time we were done, I was so tired that I could barely get up again, but I knew that he was getting restless.
“I’ll bet you have to get to work,” I said, still laying on the bed while he hunted down some clothes to wear.
“I always have to work. I feel like I spend more time trying to find ways to get out of it than I do working.” He popped his head out of the closet. “You’re the perfect distraction.”
“That’s how I feel.” I pulled my pants on and grabbed my shirt.
“What do I distract you from?” he asked when he walked out and zipped up his pants.
“I don’t know,” I lied. “Just life in general, I guess.”
He nodded his head. There was a clear space between us. I knew nothing about him, and he knew nothing about me. That was the way he liked it, and I wasn’t going to open up. That was one place that neither of us could move into.
We dressed silently, he handed me my money, and I left. There was something missing. We had a quick goodbye, but no hug, no kiss. It wasn’t natural. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Didn’t he want more? He seemed to. He enjoyed our time together, and he must’ve known that he didn’t have to pay me to be with him. Something was stopping him from taking that step.
I never thought I would get into something like this. I was a sensible person. I never had one-night stands. I rarely even looked at men. I had my priorities, but I had my father to think about. Maybe he had something just as compelling driving him. Why else would he give up on love?
Chapter 17
Jake
I had two financial reports to look over and a summary to write for the board. They needed it on their desk by tomorrow morning. Most of my job was trying to prove to them that I deserved their approval. Really, they were just pompous senior citizens who thought their bank accounts entitled them to my company.
I shouldn’t have taken the company public. Now everyone and their mother was entitled to a piece of what I owned. I’d made the decision because I knew it would make me rich. Now I had to work every second of my day trying to justify that decision.
I designed the report with brightly-colored bars. Red for December, blue for January, and, of course, pink for February because of Valentine’s Day. I hovered my mouse over December. “Ho, ho, ho,” a virtual Santa chuckled.
I wanted to shoot somebody. My cock was so hard it pressed up against the bottom of my desk. Every time I moved, the wood ground against the head, and it made me shiver. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and allowed myself to drift off into the constant stream of images that’d been haunting me all day.
I laid in bed and watched Maria sleep. Now I fed her a strawberry. Then I flipped her over. Then I ravaged her body. The images in my head did nothing to suppress the desire burning inside me. But they wouldn’t go away, just like
my throbbing erection.
I couldn’t touch myself to take the edge off. Not at work. It was one of my rules. I had to maintain complete professionalism at work. Even with a private office and bathroom, the risk was too great. If someone caught me with my pants down, the entire company would hear about it by the end of the day. I resisted the temptation to break my rule and held onto the arms of my chair tightly. My attention needed to be on the reports for the board. I had to focus, but my mind only wanted to focus on Maria.
I loved the way she looked when she opened her eyes and saw me lying next to her in bed that morning. She seemed surprised at first, then thrilled. I should’ve canceled everything and refused to let her off the bed.
Quarterly reports. I moved the mouse over February, and a stream of hearts fell down the screen. The sound of a sitcom audience fawning over something adorable played from the computer speakers. It was sappy and cheesy, but it made me smile, nonetheless. She was so adorable when she tried to feed me a strawberry.
Focus, dammit. I had to get this done. The board was already talking about my lack of interest in company matters. It was just petty gossip and would be easily squashed, but I didn’t like showing weakness around them.
I was weak. I could barely keep my cock down, and my heart pounded in my chest. I needed to see Maria again, but what would happen if I did? I let her sleep in my bed and made her breakfast instead of kicking her out. Now I couldn’t even work because I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
I could almost feel the heat when I pounded into her. I could almost hear her voice. The sound of her screaming in ecstasy was like a drug. I needed my fix. Why wait? I would just torture myself until I called her, but this was too dangerous. I had to fight her off.
I went back to my Word document and copied March’s sales from the analyst’s graph. Maybe I could call her and just have a quick night. I didn’t have to detach completely, just enough to keep from getting trapped. I pulled out my phone to dial her number. Once I got a taste, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself. I knew how our night would end up. I’d have her every which way until I was too tired to stand. She’d probably fall asleep at my place again.