Her full name. Oh, God. Despite the hurt and anger, heat flooded her pussy, soaking through the sensible underwear beneath her practical business skirt. Outwardly, she gave him only a slight tilt of the head and a confused expression. “What exactly are you asking about, James?”
His eyes narrowed, and she had to force herself to keep her eyes on his. Years of training, coupled with her naturally submissive nature, urged her to lower her gaze to the desk. But she kept her head high, refusing to give him even the slightest bit of acquiescence.
“You were reading MaryAnn the riot act when I walked in, and as soon as I ask about it, everything is fine. What aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s being handled.”
She could read the frustration on his face, plain as day. He took a step forward, and then another, until he was directly in front of her desk. Eyes locked on her, he uncrossed his arms and lowered his hands, pressing his palms into the smooth solid wood.
“You and I are going to talk. Tonight.” With that pronouncement, he stood and straightened the flawlessly cut jacket of his suit. “You will be home no later than six-thirty. I will take care of dinner.” His eyes met hers once more, and the resolve in them would have brought her to her knees if she hadn’t already been sitting. “I suggest you take some time over the next few hours to think about what you want. From our business as well as our marriage. I’ll see you at home.”
Without another word, he turned and left her office. The sound of the door clicking shut behind him might as well have been a gunshot. Olivia jumped at the noise, nearly knocking over the half empty can of soda sitting next to her docking station.
Tears burned behind her eyes. How the hell was she supposed to get any work done after a bomb like that? Months had passed with little more than a disapproving look here and there, and all of a sudden, he wanted to talk?
Fighting back her growing panic, she grabbed her purse and laptop bag. There was no way she would be getting any work done now. Walking out with her head down to avoid talking to anyone, she sent out an SOS message to her closest friend, Shannon.
Need coffee. James is being super weird.
Halfway to her car, her phone vibrated with an incoming message. Some of the panic ebbed when she read the response.
Be there in ten.
Without her usual care, she tossed the laptop bag in the backseat and slid behind the wheel of her SUV. She and James each drove one, which would have been overkill if they didn’t come in so handy for work.
There wasn’t, thankfully, much time to think on the short drive to the coffee house she and Shannon had adopted at the start of their friendship. Olivia didn’t even like coffee; she only went to humor Shannon, though the shop did have the best hot chocolate in Baltimore—possibly all of Central Maryland.
She snagged herself a cup of said hot chocolate with extra whipped cream, and debated briefly over the extra calories in the huge chocolate chip cookie before ordering one of those as well. Thankfully, the shop was relatively empty at three in the afternoon, and she was able to find a pair of chairs away from the other patrons.
Shannon walked in just as Olivia was settling into one of the oversized armchairs. Tall, blonde, and thin as a rail, Shannon Wright looked as though she’d just walked off the cover of one of those fashion magazines MaryAnn was always sighing over. Her eyes scanned the shop until she found Olivia. With a wink and a wave, she strolled up to the counter and placed her order. Large medium roast, with just a splash of cream. She’d ordered the same thing every day for as long as they’d known each other.
Coffee in hand, Shannon glided across the shop and plunked her skinny ass down into the chair beside Olivia. “So, what’s going on with you and Mr. Sexy?”
Sipping her hot chocolate, Olivia debated on how much to share. She’d met Shannon at a play party in college and they’d stayed close, despite the fact that Shannon worked for one of James’s biggest competitors in town. So there wasn’t much about her personal life Olivia hadn’t shared with the bombshell blonde across from her. But she’d been careful not to mention the growing distance between her and James. “Things are... weird lately. With me and James.”
“Mr. Sexy getting handsy at work?” Shannon asked with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.
With a roll of her eyes, Olivia snorted. “No.” She broke off a piece of her cookie and shoved it in her mouth. “Just the opposite, actually. It’s like we can’t switch it off when we get home anymore. He says we need to talk tonight.”
Shannon’s baby blues widened. “Just talk ortalk?”
“I don’t know. We haven’ttalkedin months.”
“What? Why?”
Unable to meet her friend’s eyes, Olivia studied her cup as she swirled the hot chocolate around. “I don’t know, really. We’ve just been drifting apart, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
There was a long, heavy silence before Shannon spoke again. “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do.”
Intrigued by the resolve in Shannon’s voice, Olivia looked up. “Okay?”
“You’re going to go home, put on your best ‘Fuck me, Daddy’ outfit, and make that man talk to you. Talk andtalk, if that’s what you need. Then, you’re going to seduce him and fuck like bunnies until you can’t see straight.”
“I wish it was that simple,” Olivia grumbled.
“Why isn’t it?”
“It just isn’t. He’s barely touched me in months.”