~Noel~
“Dad, we want to know everything,” I inform my father before eating a bite of lemon chicken. This whole visit has been disconcerting. Not only did I introduce Reed and Piper to my family, but as I gaze around the house, I see that Dad has started to clear some of our mom’s things away.
After she passed, he left everything exactly the way it was. There was even a dust rag on the mantel. He refused to change anything.
But the dust rag is now gone, and he bought new kitchen towels. It doesn’t sound like a big thing, but for our dad, it’s huge.
“Her name is Martha, and I met her at the senior center. She kicked my ass at poker.”
Joy and I share a glance and then laugh. Mom always hated when Dad went out for poker night.
Now he’s met a woman that can beat him!
“And how did the date go?” Jase asks.
“Fairly well, I suppose. I haven’t been out on a date in forty years.” He sighs and sets his fork down. “Now, I don’t want you girls to think that I’m trying to replace your mother or anything like that.”
“Dad,” Joy says, reaching over to pat his shoulder, “we’re all adults here. Trust me, we know how much you love and miss Mom. Replacing her isn’t what this is.”
“It’s just nice to have a conversation with someone who answers me,” Dad says with a grin. “Nancy’s a good listener, but not a great conversationalist.”
“I’m happy for you, Dad,” I say. “When do we get to meet her?”
“Well, I guess Sunday dinners are for introducing new people,” Dad says, smiling at Reed. “How about next Sunday?”
“I’m on call,” Joy says, a frown turning down her lips. “We can plan it, but if there’s an emergency at the clinic, I’ll have to duck out.”
“We can do it in two weeks, then,” Dad says and nods.
“Can I come?” Piper asks, speaking for the first time. She’s been watching us with wide, brown eyes, soaking in the conversation.
“Well, I sure hope you will,” Dad says. “I’ll need someone to protect me from these two.”
He points to Joy and me, and Piper giggles.
“I’m just a little girl!”
Reed reaches for my hand under the table and gives it a squeeze. I was so nervous about bringing them today, but they’re both fitting in as if they’ve been coming to family dinners for years.
I can’t help but wonder when the other shoe will drop. Is this too good to be true?
* * * *
It’s Wednesday afternoon, and I haven’t seen Reed since Sunday evening. Since I took the past few weekends off, and because I squeezed Reed’s project into my schedule, I’m now chained to my desk, buried in work.
Ali’s been working late with me. I think I can almost see the light at the end of this tunnel. Finally.
“Hey, Noel, your four o’clock is here,” Ali says, poking her head in my office.
“Great, thanks.”
Alex Fisher and I go way back. He lived in our neighborhood growing up, and we played together almost every day. He’s like a brother to me.
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.
“Don’t make any noise,” he warns me before sliding inside me, one amazing inch at a time until he’s seated balls-deep.
He leans down, his front pressed to my back, and kisses my neck. “I’ve been thinking of this, and little else, for days. Do you have any idea how badly I want you? It’s constant, Noel.”
He’s whispering, making as little noise as possible while he moves in small motions, rubbing the root of his dick against my core.
“This, all of this, is mine, do you understand?”
“Hell, yes,” I mutter. “Faster, Reed.”
“You want more?”
I nod, not caring in the least that I’m wrinkling all the papers I’ve worked hard on today. Or that I’m sprawled out, ass up, over my desk, practically begging Reed to fuck the hell out of me.
I wasn’t lying, I did miss him.
Missed this.
He doesn’t disappoint. He moves faster, pushes harder. I have to cover my mouth with my hand to keep from crying out, it feels so damn amazing.
With another slap on my ass, Reed grips my hips tightly and pulses against me, buried deeply as he falls over the edge, taking me with him.
My legs have never shaken like this before.
Good God, Reed’s ruined me for all other men.
He slips out of me, tugs my skirt back down, and when I turn around, he’s smiling down at me like the cat that ate the canary.
“You look awfully pleased with yourself.”
“I’m pleased with both of us.” He kisses me softly. “Did I hurt you?”
“Nope, you can do that pretty much any time.”
There’s a knock on my door, but Ali doesn’t open it.
“Yes?” I call.
“I’m leaving for the night,” she calls back. “See you tomorrow!”
“Thanks, Ali.”
My eyes are still pinned to Reed’s.
“She totally heard us,” I inform him. His lips twitch.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve worked with Ali for five years. I could hear the smile in her voice, and she didn’t open the door. She always opens the door.”
“Well. She’s an adult woman. She’ll recover.”
“I’ll have to add counseling to her benefits package.”
Reed chuckles and kisses my forehead. “Come home with me tonight.”
“I can’t. I want to, trust me, but I just can’t tonight. I’ve been out of my office too much lately, and I have to catch up because I’d like to take weekends off to be with you and Piper.”
He sighs, but he doesn’t give me a guilt trip or try to talk me into it. He just kisses my forehead again and pulls me in for a big, strong hug.
“Okay. I brought my laptop. Do you mind if I work for a bit with you?”
I lean back and frown. “Where’s Piper?”
“One of her classmates asked if she could have a play date tonight. I have a couple hours until I pick her up.”
“In that case, absolutely. You’re welcome to work with me.”
I didn’t even notice that he had a briefcase in his hand when he arrived. I just saw him.
When we settle in to work, Reed looks at me over his laptop. “I apologize for earlier, Noel. For jumping to conclusions when I saw you hug that other guy. It was uncalled for.”
“Thank you for that. You don’t have anything to worry about, Reed. I’m not interested in Alex or anyone else, for that matter.”
We order in dinner and sit in companionable silence as we both work on projects and chew on our Chinese food.
I’ve never been as comfortable with anyone as I am with Reed.
I’ve never loved anyone the way I love him.