AUSTIN
I had the best sex of my life. I was walking on cloud nine. I was smiling at nothing. Then I walked in, saw her in the office, and I snapped.
I promised myself that I would never let my dick get involved with my work. Then there she was, in a tight skirt and a white shirt, and all I thought about was making those buttons scatter as I ripped that shirt off and fucked her tits.
My cock saw her and immediately stood up to salute her. Then she said the words I dreaded. “I work here.”
Now, here I am, three days later, sulking in my office. While she comes in smiling every day like nothing happened. I see her bend down and have to stifle a groan. I see her chewing on her pen and think about her sucking my cock. I can’t think straight. I can’t even walk next to her without fighting the urge to push her up against the wall and fuck her so hard she can’t walk afterward.
I’m watching her while she talks to Steven, her arms crossed over her chest and leaning back. Today, she’s wearing one of those tuxedo shirts for women, with rows of pleated material down the center. I wonder if she’s wearing a lace bra underneath? All I know is, if I see her laugh one more time at something he says, I’m firing him. I pick up the phone to call her.
“Yes,” she answers, and I swear my cock knows when she’s close, because he twitches.
“I need the specs for my meeting with Dani.” I look over at my screen, knowing she sent it twenty minutes ago.
“I sent it to you already,” she huffs and then turns back to her screen. “Yep, it says ‘sent.’ Did you refresh your screen?”
“Obviously, Lauren,” I grate out. “Can you just bring me in the hard copies so I can go over them?”
“Sure.” She hangs up and prints out the pages, then gets up to bring them to me right as Steven steps in her way, causing the papers to drop to the floor. She bends over to pick them up, her ass pointing straight at my office window. Steven doesn’t even notice that ass; he just helps her pick up the papers.
I groan and throw my pen down, trying to get my thoughts together so when she comes in, it doesn’t show that I’m affected by her.
I adjust my cock and mentally tell him to knock it off.
The door opens and she walks in, handing me the papers. “Here you go. Do you need me to attend the meeting?” she asks, and I can’t say anything. Today, she has her hair tied up in a ponytail, and I want nothing more than to untie it so I can run my fingers through it. I just nod, pretending to review the plans.
“Fine. I’ll meet you in there. I’m going to get myself a coffee. Would you like one?” she asks me over her shoulder as she walks out of my office.
“Sure, no laxatives or breast milk, please.” I watch as she rolls her eyes. I continue to watch her as she walks past my office, a little swing in her hips and a small smile playing across her beautiful face. Like me, I know she’s thinking of that morning, that incredible morning. It feels like it was ages ago, but it’s been only four days.
Every night on my way home, I go out of my way to pass by her house just to see if she is there, hoping to catch another glimpse of her. Each and every night, I wish I could text her, call her, go to see her. But I can’t.
The knock at the door jolts me out of my thoughts, and I look up to see Carmen standing there, leaning against the door jamb. “Hiyeah. I called, but you didn’t answer. Dani is here,” she informs me, and I nod as I get up, grabbing my jacket, and making my way to the conference room.
Dani and Lauren are in there gabbing away about new recipes. I can’t help but notice how everyone has taken to Lauren. She gets along with everyone.
She looks over at me, feeling me staring at her. She smiles at me, her smile different than the smile she gives anyone else. It takes over her whole face, her eyes, her cheeks, and her body relaxes.
“Hey.” She points to the table. “Your coffee is there.”
Dani sees me and walks over to me, hugging me, and kisses my cheek. “Hey there, we missed you on Sunday.” My eyes fly right to Lauren’s.
“Yeah, sorry, I was…” I don’t finish. I just look down at the pictures on the table. The restaurant is almost done. “Oh, wow, these are beautiful. I love the booths.” I look and see that the booths are exactly like I wanted them to be, but now each also has a chandelier that hangs over the center of the table that gives it the appearance of falling rain.
“Yes, that was Lauren’s idea. When she described it, I thought right away about the booths, so I told Chris. We are having a soft opening this weekend to make sure everything goes as planned, and then next weekend, it’s go-time. I have a couple of celebrities coming. I even hit up your friend, Cooper Stone, and he’s bringing his wife, Parker, with him.”
I sit in the chair, looking at the pictures, while she talks, only half listening. “So, do you have a date for this or not? I can set you up with this girl I go to Pilates with. She is very detail oriented, and she just wants a good time.”
My head snaps up, shooting straight to Lauren. “Um, no.” I see her looking down at the pad in front of her. “I’m not bringing a date.”
Dani laughs at me. “Serena will be there anyway.” My eyes leave Lauren and shoot to Dani.
“Excuse me.” Lauren pushes off from the table and walks out.
I look at Dani. “Is that all? Did we need to go over anything else?”
“No.” She looks at me then at the door that Lauren just went through. “Jesus, are you and Lauren…” She motions with her fingers.
“She works for me, so that answers your question.”
“Right.” She gathers all her papers. “I’m going to hit up John before I leave. I’ll see you Sunday?” Every Sunday, we all get together for dinner.
“I’m not sure,” I reply, because I’m hoping that Lauren quits tonight.
I walk back to my office, expecting Lauren to be there, but her computer is shut off. I check my watch and see it’s only two-thirty.
I pick up my phone and call her on her cell. She picks up after the first ring. “Sorry, I’m so sorry I had to leave,” she says, almost frantically, without even greeting me.
“Is everything okay?” I’m ready to run out if she needs me.
“Yes,” she sighs. “Well, not really. I might have to call in sick tomorrow. Kaleigh has strep throat. She has a fever, and she’s at my parents’ house now, because the last thing I need is for anyone else to get sick.”
“What?” I’m trying to follow her, but she is rambling.
“Kaleigh had a fever, so she went to the doctor. She has a throat infection. She is the one who watches my kids after school while I’m at work. Except, tomorrow is a staff development day, and she’s sick, so I have no other backup.”
“Okay, don’t worry about it.” I go to my computer to check my calendar, seeing that there’s nothing on my schedule till Monday. “What are you going to do with the kids tomorrow?” I ask her, not exactly sure why, but I do it anyway.
“I have no clue. Hopefully, keep them from killing each other. Listen, I’m just getting home, so I need to go. Sorry about just taking off like that,” she apologizes softly.
“It’s fine. I’ll call you later to check in,” I tell her and then hang up.
I block out my day tomorrow, sending a message to Barbara that I’m going to be working from home.
I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing. But the next morning at nine a.m., I’m standing on Lauren’s porch, hoping she doesn’t turn me away.
I hear the door locks turning and hold my breath. Rachel opens the door, still in her pajamas. I squat down to talk to her, asking, “Hey there, is Mommy home?”
She smiles at me, showing me a missing tooth, her lips shiny with what I’m assuming is syrup. “Mommy!” she yells loudly. “Asshat is at the door.”
I put my head down, laughing at the nickname. “What?” I hear her voice from somewhere inside the house as she makes her way to the door. She is wearing a short pink cotton robe, loosely tied at the waist, the front a bit open on top so you can see her camisole. Her hair piled up on her head, she places her hands on Rachel’s shoulders. “What are you doing here?” She looks down at me.
I rise up from the squat position. “I came to see if you and the kids would like to go ice skating?” I ask her, and not waiting for her to invite me, I walk past her, kissing her on the head.
I shrug off my jacket, throwing it on the pile next to the door with the other jackets. Then I turn and look at her. “Is that bacon I smell?”
“Real bacon,” Rachel says, turning to run back into the kitchen.
I look at Lauren questioningly. “Kaleigh makes them eat vegan bacon, but I picked up the real deal yesterday, so it’s like Christmas morning.” She laughs as she pulls her robe together at the top of her neck. “Austin, what are you doing here?” she asks me again, and before I have a chance to answer her, Gabe runs into the room.
“Are we really going skating?” His eyes are wide with anticipation. “Mom, can I bring my stick so we can shoot some pucks?” He then turns to me. “Is it okay if I bring my stick?”
“You play hockey?” I ask him.
“Yeah, I want to, but Mom says I have to choose one sport, so I chose soccer.” Gabe looks at his mom.
“I used to play college hockey with Cooper Stone. Have you heard of him? He’s retired now, but he was a big deal when he was playing.”
“You used to play with Cooper Stone? Matthew Grant is my favorite player of all time! He’s still a rookie, but he’s awesome.”
I smile at him. This kid obviously wants to play hockey. “How about next Sunday, if it’s okay with your mom, I ask Cooper to join us on the ice?”
“Mom, please? I’ll do all my chores.” Gabe turns to his mom and begs.
“First off, you’re at your dad’s next weekend. And second, you don’t have any equipment, and this isn’t the right time for me to be buying stuff,” she answers him.
“I have extra gear,” I pipe in. I totally don’t, but I’ll buy whatever he needs me to buy.
She looks at me. “How about we go do the skating thing and see how you like it? You’ve never really been on skates, Gabe,” she proposes gently, and he must see it as a win in his favor, because he jumps up and hugs her, repeating ‘thank you’ over and over again.
“Rachel, we’re going skating!” Gabe yells, running out of the room.
“You look cute,” I tell her because she does look cute, but it’s more than that.
“We aren’t dating, Austin. You can’t talk to me like that.” She shakes her head. “Please, don’t make this harder for me.” She keeps her voice low, and I advance on her, but she quickly brushes past me and heads into the kitchen, picking up the kids’ breakfast plates on her way to the sink.
“What do we call you if we can’t call you Asshat?” Rachel turnsto me on her way up the stairs.
“His name is Austin, so no more of that language, young lady. Now, go get dressed,” her mother instructs from the kitchen. Gabe grabs her hand to hurry her upstairs to get dressed.
I head into the kitchen, finding Lauren bent over, loading the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. Her ass taunts me, and my cock is hard and ready to slide into her.
Looking over my shoulder to make sure we’re alone, I walk over to her, placing my hands on her hips.
Her body stills and then stiffens once my hands land on her. I press my hips forward so she feels me. The warmth of her body penetrates right through me. She snaps up straight, keeping her back to me. “I can’t seem to forget you,” I whisper in her ear as I sweep her hair to the side and kiss her neck. “I can’t think.” I run small kisses up the side of her neck as she tilts her head to the side to give me better access. I’m about to slip my hand inside her robe when I hear someone barreling down the stairs.
My hands leave her hips and I back away from her, while Lauren slams the dishwasher closed. “I’m not quitting my job just so you can have your way,” she hisses as she walks past me. “Get ready, because there are more games to play, Austin.”
She walks upstairs as I watch her, and I swear there’s a distinct swing to her hips.