Corporate Fire: Corporate Romance Book 1 (20 page)

She stood up instead of obeying him and reached behind her back. His hands joined hers and unzipped the dress for her. It fell off her shoulder, which he lavished with kisses as he pushed the dress over her hips along with her panties. Both dress and panties fell to the floor.

Her hand caressed his shaft, gliding up and down over it. Her womanhood wanted him inside, but the longer she delayed, the more impassioned his kisses became.

He pulled away and whispered, “Lay down.”

This time she obeyed.

He stared at her in the dark for a moment before kneeling on the edge of the bed. He took her bare foot in his hands and lifted it to his mouth. He kissed her toes, the arch of her foot, her ankle, and all the way up her calf and thigh, lowering her leg as he went. She knew he was going to lick her clitoris again and could hardly stand the anticipation. She ran her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. His tongue licked beneath her hair and over her clitoris.

Her muscles tensed, and she held her breath. The orgasm was near. He used his fingers to part her folds and put his tongue to her clitoris. He began with slow strokes, making her arch her back and push her womanhood up against his mouth. Then his tongue flicked fast. She cried out his name, on the verge of orgasm.

He lifted his body up and thrust deep inside her. The orgasm hit right away. Even as she rocked in pleasure, she found a rhythm with his body quickly. Their eyes locked on each other. She wasn't just having sex, she was making love. Her good leg clenched around him, and she arched her back again as another orgasm hit her.

Sweat broke out across his back. She felt the tension in his muscles beneath her hands. He kissed her neck, her ear, her lips as he continued to rock against her. His hand slid between their bodies. He pressed his thumb against her clitoris, causing another wave of orgasms. When he withdrew his hand, he thrust deeply and fired off inside her, holding her so tightly that she could barely breath. He buried his forehead in the pillow and kissed the curve of her neck until their bodies stilled.

She realized he wasn't leaving her. They had all the time they wanted to make love again and again.

After a moment of silence he said, “You're amazing...amazing Grace. I love you.”

She tightened her arms around him before she spoke. “I love you too. Do we get to spend all night and morning like this?”

He lifted his head up and grinned. “I booked us for two nights.”

25| Six Weeks Later

Grace flexed and pointed her toes, relieved to have her cast off. She was on the sofa with her tablet in front of her, but it was screencasting to her TV so that Jill and Royce could watch too. Jill passed out the cosmopolitans, and Royce kept saying the food was almost ready. They’d decided that one of them needed to learn how to cook. Since Grace would go nuts if the onions got even a little browner than they were supposed to, that was Royce. The first few meals had been only edible, but now he seemed to be catching on.

“What are you making? I hear a lot of popping and sizzling,” said Grace.

“Buffalo wings. They were actually pretty easy.”

“Damn, Grace,” said Jill, sitting next to her and using a low voice. “I've gotta say he's quite a catch. Does he have any brothers?”

“Apparently one who lives here, but they don’t talk.”

“Well if you ever meet him, let me know.”

Royce came out with a plate piled high with Buffalo wings and a plate of carrots and celery sticks. He put them next to a bowl of blue cheese dressing and a stack of napkins on the new coffee table, which was in front of an actual sofa that he'd bought. “Is it ready to upload?” asked Royce.

“We're just waiting for you,” said Grace. “Those look so good.”

“Let's do it,” he said.

Royce had found a job in the marketing department of a Denver-based company. She was almost as nervous for him as she was for herself today, since they'd used his marketing plan. With his ideas and Jill's social network connections, they'd rallied a fairly good launch day promotion.

Grace pushed something on the tablet, and they all watched the status bar fill across the screen. When it finished she got a congratulations screen. She clicked to the screen that showed her game was available and said, “It's there!” All three of them tweeted and Facebooked the link before Grace lifted up her cosmo. “A toast to the two of you for helping me make this happen. I really could not have done it without you.”

They clinked glasses, and Royce gave her a kiss. “The game is great. You should be proud of your work.”

“All right, before you guys get mushy, I'm digging in.”

As they ate, Grace found it hard not to click to see if anyone had downloaded it yet. Their goal was to get ten downloads in the first hour and twenty for the day. Her secret goal was fifty for the day.

They chatted and drank, but they all sounded distracted. Finally Jill said, “I can't take it anymore. Has anyone downloaded it?”

Glad that someone else was nervous, Grace clicked over to the administration screen but closed her eyes before she saw anything.

“Shit,” said Royce.

Grace hung her head. They must have zero downloads.

“OMG,” said Jill.

Grace sighed. It hadn't even been thirty minutes yet. There was still time to get ten in an hour.

Jill slapped her arm. “Grace, look up. You've had two hundred downloads already.”

“What?” She opened her eyes and saw the counter change to 201. “I can't believe it. Is that real?”

“You're the expert,” said Royce. “But it looks real to me. I knew the game would be a success.”

He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a long kiss.

Jill ran out of the room and came back in with the bottle of champagne they'd been saving for when the first hour was up. She said, “We have to toast now. This is just too exciting.”

They all drained their cosmos, but before Jill popped the cork, Royce said, “Hang on, Jill.”

He slid off the couch and landed on one knee, taking Grace's hand in his. She stared at him with wide eyes and felt her body shake. Was he really about to do what she thought he was going to do?

He reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a small box that he opened with one hand. Inside was a gold ring with a huge diamond set in the middle. Grace thought her eyes would bulge out of her head.

Royce said, “Grace, my life has been so much better since you and I met. I really can no longer imagine being in the job I used to have or living my life out of a suitcase. I love you more than I can express. Would you do me the honor of marrying me?”

“Yes! Yes!” Grace couldn't say it fast enough. She pulled him to her for a kiss just as the cork popped out of the bottle. When they emerged from their embrace, Jill had all the glasses filled with champagne.

Jill lifted her glass and said, “To the two most unlikely people to ever even get together. You make a hell of a couple.” They clinked glasses again, Grace basking in the friendship and love she had always been afraid to have. Now that she'd opened up, she could never go back to being closed off, and she knew she would never have a reason to.

About Evelyn Aster

Evelyn Aster loves coffee, chocolate and romance. If she's not at a cafe writing, she's most likely out on a date, enjoying a cocktail with St. Germaine in it. You can also find her at:

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/evelynaster/

Wordpress: https://evelynaster.wordpress.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvelynAster

Thankful Hearts Preview

Available in time for Thanksgiving 2015

Thankful Hearts

By Evelyn Aster

Book Two in the
Holiday Cafe Series

1| Apple Pie Latte with a Shot of Toffee

Hudson wasn't exactly a coffee shop kinda guy. He took his coffee black without any froo-froo shit in it like steamed milk or pure cane sugar. Staring at the Holiday Cafe from his motorcycle, he figured there was a fifty/fifty chance a simple cup of coffee wasn't on the menu. A scarecrow sticking out of a bale of hay greeted customers as they entered, and pumpkins lined the walkway. A cornucopia painted on the glass door had whipped cream laced with caramel spilling out of it. Whatever. He was here to stalk, and stalking had to be akin to sniping: hide out where the prey goes and wait for fucking ever. At least the tables inside would be far better than any rock he'd hidden behind in Afghanistan.

He removed his helmet and hung it from the handlebar. As he walked up to the door he told himself to drop the stalker attitude. That was army; this was civilian. He wasn't being creepy. He just didn't have anyplace better to go.

He opened the door, and he was hit with a smell like the top five cups of coffee he'd ever had, blended together. Damn, maybe the trip had been worth it just for this.

After taking a deep breath of the rich aroma, he approached the counter, where a skinny young woman in a Pilgrim dress and bonnet said, “What may I get thou?”

He smiled and relaxed his shoulders by a millimeter. She had to be the one called Chloe. He'd been warned that she sometimes wore costumes. He started to order a cup of joe and then remembered what he'd promised to try if he ever came here. He pulled out his phone and opened the notes he'd taken. “Uh, I'd like an Apple Pie Latte with a shot of toffee syrup.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows and stared at him. “Really?”

“Yeah, is that weird?” His pulse quickened, but years of training made it easy to stifle.

“No, I just only have one other customer who orders it with the shot of toffee.”

His face burned. He'd already given himself away. Get a grip. She wasn't going to blow his head off. Might as well try to get info at this point. “Is it Stacy?”

“Yeah! You know her?”

“Sort of. She told me if I was ever in town to try it.” That sounded normal.

“You're lucky 'cause we just started making it again after Halloween.”

“Yeah, she kept doing a countdown to it. It was the same day I got discharged.”

“Oh, how cool. I'll make it perfect just for you.”

He paid for the drink and sat down in the first seat at a counter that ran perpendicular to the cash register counter. There were a couple of people there with their laptops and phones plugged in. He set his phone on the counter so he wouldn't appear too out of place. Taking in the rest of the cafe, he saw a gas fire burning in the fireplace at the back of the room. A couple cuddled on the couch next to it, making him clench his jaw and look away. The warmth made him want to take his leather jacket off, but he had his SIG in a holster under his jacket. He certainly wouldn’t leave his firearm at his motel, and this wasn't a place to flash one. He probably shouldn't have brought it from Texas, but he'd felt buck naked on the plane home without a gun.

He noted how Chloe assessed him out of the corner of her eye. Maybe he'd hook up with her if things didn't work out with Stacy. Hmmm, maybe not. He got a weird vibe from her like she was appraising the goods rather than appreciating them.

The cafe had a tall ceiling and a loft on one side. Maybe Stacy was up there. He checked the time on his phone and decided that 5:05 was a little too early to be here after work unless her bank was close by. He clicked on the Words with Friends app. Sweet. He had a message she’d posted a couple of hours ago along with her word: turgid. His cock hardened as if the word was a suggestion. All her words did that to him these days. There was no doubt that he needed a good fuck. Her tiny icon made it hard to see what she really looked like other than an attractive businesswoman.

Chloe slid a whipped cream topped, caramel laced concoction in front of him, and he said, “So have you seen Stacy here recently?”

“I usually see her on Fridays, but if it's a bad week, I'll see her today.”

It was Thursday. He didn't want to wish a shit week on anyone, but he couldn't help but hope she'd show up. He hadn't had the balls to tell her he was coming to town. He clicked on her message. “I didn't expect a play from you while you caught up with your girlfriend. I hope everything's okay.”

He set the phone on the counter and took a sip of the latte, prepared for a sickeningly sweet experience. He paused and then drew more of the amazing liquid into his mouth. It was grandma's apple pie with an edge. He set it on the counter and made a fist with his empty hand. This was supposed to have been the best Thanksgiving ever, after years of Army food in a desert where he might be shot before dinner was finished.

He dove down into the darkness of self-pity but jumped out when the door opened behind him.

“Hey, Stacy!” called Chloe.

He turned to see. Oh, fuck, she was right behind him. He didn't even try to slow his pulse. She wasn't supermodel gorgeous or anything like that, but she was perfect. Her long brown hair fell in waves down to her shoulders. She had a heart-shaped face with ruby lips that didn't appear to have lipstick. She strutted to the counter with a sassy sway in her hips covered by a business skirt; she smiled, though her eyes appeared tired.