God, I wished I could have them all.
But in what kind of world does that happen? And when all was said and done, who knew if any of them would want me, anyway?
I could end up alone, with no promotion, and still distrusted by folks at the firm who thought I was a single floozy.
Exactly where I’d started.
But for now, I relished Cato’s fingers in my hair as he clenched a handful every now and then as if to ensure it was real—and that the moment itself was real. And I found myself searching for his assurances as he searched for mine, running my fingers through his hair in return, like he might go away at any moment.
He pulled back and looked at me sternly.
“You know how long I’ve wanted to do this?” he asked.
He’d wanted to do this for a while? He’d wanted to kiss me?
No complaints here.
“No. I never knew. And by the way, we work together,” I pointed out. Not that I wanted anything to stop. I just thought I should call out the obvious.
But he didn’t seem worried about a thing as his lips brushed over mine, then across to my ear and up my temple, where he stopped. His breath was light and warm on my skin.
My eyes fluttered closed. I didn’t want the moment to end.
He pulled me to standing. Holding one of my hands, he bent to remove my shoes. When he straightened back up again, he was several inches taller than I—taller than I ever remembered him being, I guess because I always wore heels when I was around him. He then began to work the buttons of my silk blouse, so very slowly, his gaze catching mine to ensure I was okay with his advances.
Hell, yeah, I was okay with him removing any and all of my clothing.
When my blouse was open, he untucked it from my skirt and tossed it to the sofa behind me, stopping to admire my nude lace bra and the nice cleavage it gave me. Reaching around, he unzipped my pencil skirt, pushing it down over my hips until it fell to the floor at my feet.
Taking a small step back, he looked me over from head to toe as I stood there in my bra and panties.
“Beautiful,” he murmured. “Beautiful, just like I knew you’d be.”
Good lord. If he kept talking like that, I might just have to marry the man.
“C’mon,” he said, leading me toward the bedrooms.
We entered a sumptuous room that reeked of expensive, well, everything. Some talented interior designer had decorated it with richly textured fabrics in amazing, unexpected colors. It smelled of the old, crackled leather on the chairs in the corner that overlooked the city. But most breathtaking was the unobstructed view of Central Park and beyond. Cato lowered the lights in the bedroom so we could see better out the windows.
He walked up behind me, his hands falling on my shoulders. He pushed aside my hair, his lips traveling down my neck. His touch was soft but strong at the same time, left a trail of fire on my skin and a throb between my legs. I had to feel his lips again on mine, and I spun around to face him.
“I’m so glad you invited me tonight,” I whispered.
“Thank you for joining me. You don’t know how many times I’ve thought about this.”
God. How many hints had I missed? What an idiot I was.
I went for the buttons on his shirt and pushed the starched fabric back over his shoulders. He might have been a fat kid at one time, but those days were long past. I brought my lips to his broad shoulders and ran them over his beautifully defined pecs. He smelled like a dream—spicy deodorant mixed with a long day of hard work. Oh, if I could bottle that, I’d be a rich lady.
As I ran my kisses up his neck to his ear and back to his mouth, my hands flew to his belt buckle where I made quick work of his pants and boxers. They thudded to the floor in a puddle at his feet, and he released me long enough to remove his shoes and then the rest of his clothes. He stood before me, and before the window overlooking the best part of Manhattan, fantastically nude, his now fully-erect cock bouncing against my stomach as my mouth returned to his.
Was I flying? Because it sure felt like it.
My Cato. My dear, dear Cato. What had taken us so long?
Because I couldn’t help myself, I felt for his erection, and when my hand landed on it, he gasped loudly.
“Do you have a condom?” I murmured into his ear.