Sixteen
Danny lay in his bed, watching Jules get ready for work. She was in the bathroom, lit up by all the lights around the mirror in there, carefully twisting her hair up into submission.
She’d spent every night with him since last Friday. Five nights unlike any that he’d ever experienced. Five nights he wanted to turn into a lifetime.
Each evening she came to his suite after going home to get a change of clothes for her next day. Last night, she’d brought over enough clothes for the rest of the week. “I’d rather spend the time with you than in a cab, going back and forth between my office and my house,” she’d said.
He liked watching her get ready for work. There was an intimacy that appealed to him. She stood in her underwear—not the lacy sexy kind but the plain satiny ones that were more covering. Not that it mattered, because those curves of hers would not be denied.
He propped himself on his elbow. He pictured doing this ten years down the line—twenty even—and he knew he’d never feel differently about it. He knew things about her that he bet no one else did. Like that she dyed her hair darker, so that people would take her seriously, and that she wore dark contact lenses to cover up her light-blue eyes, apparently too much like her father’s for her comfort.
She walked out of the bathroom and toward the closet where she’d hung her clothes. He liked that too—seeing her clothes in there hanging next to his. It was every domestic dream that he’d ever imagined.
She pulled her blouse on and began to button it up. “You have a session with Winners Inc. today?”
“This afternoon.” The reverse striptease was really working for him. He watched avidly as she covered herself slowly, getting turned on.
“Tonight?” she asked as she pulled her skirt on and zipped it up.
“Dinner up here again?” They’d had dinner in his suite every night since the night at Connor and Louisa’s. He hoped she wouldn’t mind, because he didn’t think he’d be able to sit politely in public through dinner, knowing that the only thing he wanted on his tongue was her.
She must have felt his prurient thoughts because she glanced at him with a raised brow. “Are you hard again?”
He ran a hand under the sheet, over himself. “You do that to me.”
She hummed, coming over to sit on the edge of the bed, her eyes on him. “I have to get to work,” she said regretfully.
“I should get going anyway.” He pulled her down for a slow kiss. “We’ll do this later.”
“Yes,” she said against his lips. She got up, nodding at his erection visible under the sheets. “Think of me when you take care of that.”
He did.
When he rolled into Winners Inc., he was feeling good. Optimistic. He couldn’t wait to see what Lottie had in store for him today. He’d had moments of worry after he’d told her about the situation in London, but in the end he realized he trusted her to help him figure out what to do.
He felt optimistic enough to text Kofi again.
Osei
Haven’t heard from you. All good?
He willed Kofi to respond as he hit send. Then, because he could feel Ortiz, he sent him a text too.
Osei
Headed to my session with Winners Inc.
Ortiz answered him right away, of course.
Ortiz
Kick ass. You got this. ??
After he arrived at Winners Inc., the receptionist greeted him cheerily and walked him back to Lottie’s office. He knocked on the open door.
Lottie looked up with a smile. “There you are.”
“Am I late?” he asked, walking in.