More, Please (Please Series Book 3) (14 page)

Olivia Jonston: You forgot the please. Is this work related?

Hunter Carlisle: Yes. Per our verbal agreement, I need to fuck you.

Olivia Jonston: No.

A
few minutes later
, he responded.

H
unter Carlisle
: Are you staying in the office for lunch?

Olivia Jonston: Yup. Want me to order something for you?

R
adio silence
.

I stared at the conversation. Nothing happened.

I tapped my fingers on my desk, wondering what his game was. It wasn’t like him to give up this easily. I also kind of wanted another reason to say no. It was making me excited and eager for when he finally worked around me and got his way.

How would he get his way?

“Stop giggling.” Brenda reached in her drawer of menus. “Do you want food?”

“Read my mind. What are you ordering?”

“Hunter wants Japanese.”

I leaned against the desk, incredulous. “He asked
you
to order him food?”

Brenda frowned as she glanced up. “He always does.”

“I just asked him if he wanted me to order something for him.”

Brenda went back to her drawer, shifting through the takeout menus. “He probably knows you’d get the order wrong.”

I didn’t think that was it, but Brenda was right. I probably would. He had quirky tastes with some things, and I always felt bad with the overbearing and exacting orders, so I missed an item or two.

I looked back at the message. I stupidly wished he’d asked me, though. Or just…kept talking to me. It was a fun game to shut him down, but it also meant I didn’t get to chat or touch him. I missed him.

“This lovesick issue is kind of annoying,” I announced, pulling my report back up.

“Can’t back out now. He’ll win.” Brenda held up the menu. “Want something?”

“It’s irritating how well you know him.”

“Uh oh. Sounds like this game has lost its appeal. Or were you apologizing for yourself earlier?”

I scowled at her, making her laugh, before going back to my report. “And no, thanks. He knows Japanese is my favorite. This has to be a no situation.”

“Were these rules of yours pre-planned?”

“Nope, and I am starting to realize that my lack of planning is biting me on the butt.”

“Yup.” Brenda picked up the phone to order.

A new email came into my inbox. It was from Bruce. “Crap.” I opened it immediately and looked over the contents.

“What?” Brenda loved to be in on all the action.

“We got a bug report from the geeks that tried out our game. What the
hell…
”
I scanned the pages of problems. “How could all this have been wrong?”

“That’s the thing with geeks. They’re too smart for their own good. Now you know what it’s like working with you.”

“Hilarious,” I said in a dry voice. “Can you order me some Indian, Brenda? I want to look at some of these.”

“Sure. Are you going to escape to the conference room?”

“Yeah. Call this my lunch break.”

“Got it.”

Heaving a sigh, because I knew tonight would be a mess of frustration with this game, I heaved myself out of my chair and headed away from my desk. Games with Hunter would just have to wait.

“
I
ncoming
.”

I looked up with bleary eyes before glancing at the clock. It was almost six o’clock. Brenda was buttoning up her coat and facing the elevator.

I saved the report I was finishing up. My mind strayed to the problems I still wanted to go over with Bruce’s stuff. I’d knocked out half the list already. The issues were just tiny things, and some were already known quantities that Bruce was working on. Still, I was tired. Doing two jobs, for two tough bosses, was hard work.

A man walked toward us carrying a huge bouquet of sunflowers. Under his arm he held a big red box in the shape of a heart on top of a clipboard.

“Did I fall asleep and wake up on Valentine’s Day?” Brenda asked as the guy came to stand in front of her desk.

The man set the flowers down on Brenda’s desk and grabbed the red box and clipboard. “Uhhm…” He put the box down and ran a finger down the page on his clipboard. “Olivia Jonston.” He looked up at Brenda.

Brenda pointed at me with a scowl on her face. Her gaze was accusatory. “Who’s this from?”

The excitement of getting flowers and candies delivered was tarnished in that stare. “You didn’t order them?”

“No.” She moved closer to me as the man put the flowers and chocolates on my desk.

“Okay.” The man raised his eyebrows and pushed out his lips, apparently asking if I was all set.

“Thanks,” I said.

He nodded and walked away.

I grabbed the card among the sunflowers as a small bit of worry trickled into me. Unless my dad was back from the dead, the only person I could think of that both knew my favorite flower, and would actually send them, was Jonathan. Hunter would not like that development at all.

I opened the white cardboard. Inside was typed:

L
ove is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove.

O no, it is an ever-fixed mark

That looks on tempests and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wand’ring bark,

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken. (Sonnet 116).

I love you. -Hunter

“
W
hat the hell
?” I sat down as I stared at the note.

“Who’s it from?” Brenda asked, leaning over me.

“Hunter.”

“Hunter?” Brenda’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Who’d he get to order them?”

A conversation fluttered in my memory. He’d once asked me to have sex with him on autopilot. He’d simply told me to go in there and drop trow. I’d responded that he should come out here with flowers and chocolates and recite Shakespeare.

I fell back into my chair, still staring at the note.

“He must’ve ordered them himself,” I said.

Brenda was leaning over me, reading the note. When she straightened up, she was staring at me with wide eyes. “In all the years I’ve known him, that’s a first.” She put her hands on her hips. “I almost want to cry.”

I laughed to try and hide that I was crying a little. “Me too.” I wiped a tear from my cheek.

“Huh.” Brenda went back to her desk. “That’s sweet. He’s a good guy.”

“And he totally maneuvered his way into a
yes.
” I ran my hand over the chocolates. They weren’t even great quality; they were the silly, clichéd kind. And they were perfect.

I stood as Brenda grabbed her handbag.

“See you tomorrow,” she said.

I made my way into Hunter’s office. He didn’t look up as I closed his door, nor when I locked it.

“How did you know sunflowers were my favorite?” I asked as I came to stand beside his desk.

He typed a few things, clicked “save” in his spreadsheet, and pushed back from the desk. “I asked your mother if your father had ever bought you flowers. I figured he might have when you played dress-up. What else would you bring a princess?”

He stood and came around to me. His eyes were soft as he put his arms around me. “And I was right. Why sunflowers?”

“In the park where we always went to play and have picnics, there was this patch of sunflowers. It took me a while to realize their faces followed the sun. I thought it was so magical. I knew plants were living things, but that was like they had a brain, you know? At least to a six-year-old. My dad planted some in his backyard and I used to play in them all the time. It just became a
thing.
”

Hunter lightly touched my lips. “Why were you saying no? Was it something I did?”

“So guys do wonder about that stuff…”

“Was it?”

I undid the buttons on his shirt, feasting on his delicious upper body. “You have a meeting in thirty minutes. We need to hurry. Kinda.”

“Olivia?”

I undid the button on his fly and pushed down the zipper. “No.” I reached in and captured his velvety shaft.

He sucked in a breath. “I like when you resist,” he murmured against my lips. “I like the challenge. I know you’ll give in eventually.”

“You do, huh?”

“Now I do.”

He backed me against the desk and lifted, sitting me on the edge. His hand worked up my inner thigh as his kiss hardened. Tricky digits grazed my panty-covered sex before stripping the fabric to the side.

“Oh,” I sighed, opening my legs wider. He felt up my wetness before a finger dipped into my body. I moaned. My core tightened.

I leaned back and pulled at the back of his neck, making him lean over me. His body coated mine, hot and hard. His tip pushed at my opened before sliding inside.

“Hmm.” I wrapped my legs around him, squeezing him closer.

He thrust. His manhood pushed deep into me.

“Let’s not use protection this time,” I whispered.

He paused for a second, probably making sense of what I’d said. Then he said, “God, I love you, Olivia. You give me the hope of a different life. A better life. Never leave me.”

“Please…” I smiled against his lips.

“Please,” he said softly. Lips still close to mine, he ran his hands up my chest and over my arms, pushing them flat onto the desk. He threaded his fingers through mine as his pace sped up.

I felt his urgency. His fire. His hips rocked into mine, his manhood inside of me taking all my focus.

“Oh, Hunter.” I gyrated my hips up, taking more. A new feeling scorched my insides before flowering, opening up, and spilling out. A love like I hadn’t experienced before, one that could not be defined, took over.

We might be creating life.

Urgency took over my movements. Suddenly, something else was driving me. A different kind of love. I thought of a baby, of a family, of Hunter and me together forever.

I ripped my hands out of his and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. My kiss turned manic. I needed him with a desire I couldn’t control.

“Take me,” I urged. “Take me, Hunter.”

His arms scooped under me. He lifted, picking me up before stepping out of his pants. I continued to rock, kissing him, as he walked us over to the couch. He dropped down, laying us down awkwardly. My leg was trapped by our bodies and my neck was bent awkwardly. He didn’t stop, though. Still thrusting, harder, he pounded into my body, as desperate as I was.

“Floor,” I directed.

He rolled, taking me with him. He crashed to the ground, me on top of him. I pushed off his chest, riding him. I rocked my hips forward, feeling the delicious friction.

“Yes, Livy,” he said, his hands finding my hips. He lifted and then pulled back down, adding more force.

“Holy—” I bounced again, jarred with unspeakable pleasure. Over and over. Harder. “I’m getting close.”

He sat up, wrapping his strong arms around me again. “I love you.”

“I love you, Hunter.” I rubbed my taut nipples against his hard chest. His length worked in and out of me, winding me tighter. Driving me crazy.

“Oh yes. Oh God. Oh yes!” I squeezed my eyes shut, holding on for dear life.

We pushed through a plateau into unbearable pleasure. Our movements became smaller. Tighter. His muscles flexed against me. I bit into his shoulder, unable to push on but desperate to all the same.

“Come with me, baby,” he commanded.

I exploded. Fractured. Color blossomed between my eyes. Ecstasy washed over me as he shook. Panting, I vibrated in the shock waves of one hell of an orgasm.

“Wow,” I said quietly, losing all the strength in my body. I melted around him, laying my head on his shoulder.

“I hope you are pregnant, Olivia. I haven’t been with you that long, I know, but it doesn’t matter. I knew when I first met you, and despite trying to push you away, you just kept getting closer. This feeling I have for you will never go away, I’m certain. I just want to add to it.”

“I know, Hunter.” I kissed his neck. “Eventually we will.”

“Maybe soon.”

“Maybe.”

T
wo weeks later
, my life hadn’t changed much. I was still trying to use protection, and I failed most of the time. After a while, I wondered what the point was. If it was going to happen, it was. If not, that was probably good until I had known the guy for more than a couple months.

I needed to stop thinking about time frames. It made the situation sound totally crazy.

“Thanks, Bert,” I said as he dropped me in front of my flat. I flicked my phone screen, checking the most recent updates to the game.

“I thought you were done with that game, Livy?” Bert said, waiting for me to get out of the car.

“I was supposed to be, but Bruce found something else. It’s as if he isn’t stacked with work in this takeover.
I’m
stacked with work.”

“I don’t know how you do it.”

“I don’t either. Okay.” I pushed the door open and swung a leg out. Once out, I closed the door. “Bye.”

I probably should’ve said the farewell before closing the door. Oh well.

Head still bowed over the game, I made it to my front door and reached into my handbag for keys. On autopilot, I let myself in and trudged up the stairs. At the next door, I did the same, only blinking out of my fog when the door lock didn’t clunk over.

I pushed the door open and peeked in. “Hello?”

I stepped in and stared. Then blinked as I felt heat prickle the back of my eyes.

Pink scrawl ran up my wall. “Fuck you bitch!” Down the hall had more scrawl, graphic pictures, and other horrible things marring the beige. At my feet lay debris: glass, bits of wood, and pieces of what had once been a little ceramic elephant. Pictures had been torn from their frames and thrown about. Pots and pans littered the kitchen floor along with more broken glass.

“Livy.”

I looked down the hall in a daze. Hunter was emerging from the bedroom with a stern look on his face. He’d left the office early, saying he had to run an errand. Janelle or Mrs. Foster must’ve called him.

“What happened?” I asked in a wispy voice, tears coming to my eyes.

“We’ve had a break-in. The police are on their way.” He put his arms around me and hugged me to him. “It was Blaire, though I’m sure you guessed. I checked the surveillance.”

I shook my head before resting my cheek against his chest. “Surveillance?”

He kissed the top of my head before leading me to the living room. Once there, he cleaned off a spot on the couch and sat me down. Beside me was a large slash, revealing the cushion. The TV had a spider web of broken glass marring the face. The coffee tables, drapes—everything was ruined. She’d gotten to literally everything in the room and destroyed it.

“Blaire did some damage to my property as she was leaving. After she left graffiti here, I installed security cameras in the entryway to the building and the hallway. I planned to put them in here as well, but wanted to talk to you about it first. She beat me to it.” Hunter’s arms tightened. “We have her for breaking and entering, but not for destruction of property unless they run prints.”

Tears overflowed as I looked at all my stuff. It was new, yes, but it was still mine. I’d claimed it. I’d called this home. Hunter’s and my home. And now it was tarnished. I wasn’t sure I’d feel safe after this.

“This isn’t exactly a knife in the back, but it sure sucks,” I said as I leaned into Hunter’s warmth.

“I’m sorry, Livy. I thought I was absolved of her. With the contract out of my life, and her out of my house… I was naive.”

“It’s not your fault.” I closed my eyes. “What does the bedroom look like?”

“We’ll stay at my house tonight.”

So ruined, then. She’d done the whole apartment. Not that that was a surprise.

“Do you have your project for Bruce saved in the cloud?” Hunter asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“Good. She—”

I held up my hand. “Don’t tell me.”

The doorbell chimed. Hunter got off the couch and leaned toward the window. “The police are here.” He went to let them in.

I looked around in misery. She’d gotten me right where it hurt the most. This had technically been Hunter’s building, but it was
our
home. We shared everything. He spent more time in this place with me than in his own house. She’d broken into my refuge and plastered herself all over it in a way I surely wouldn’t forget. I had no idea how she’d gotten in, which meant that even if we changed the locks, she could probably do this again. She’d tarnished the purity I had with Hunter.

The police came in, hard-eyed and severe. They looked around and started asking questions, but I didn’t concern myself. Hunter would handle that. Instead, I texted Bert. I wanted to get out of there. Maybe I’d hit up the library until Hunter was done. I needed to think. I needed a new plan.

T
he next day
I sat at my desk as the time clicked over to 8:00 p.m. I wanted to go home.

Where was home?

It certainly wasn’t my flat at the moment. When I’d first walked in, I hadn’t seen the extent of the damage. That had changed when I had to walk through with the insurance agent.

The master bedroom had been the worst. My clothes had all been cut and ripped, as had Hunter’s. Pictures were destroyed, the bed linen had been tossed out into the backyard, and she’d defecated in the middle of the mattress.

It was the last that I couldn’t believe. She had pooped on my mattress. It was so far out there… I didn’t know what to think.

I pushed myself up and made my way into Hunter’s office. As I walked toward him, he glanced up, and then leaned back. He watched me sit across from him.

“Hey,” I said.

“Are you okay?”

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

“I pressed charges against Blaire. She’s under house arrest until her trial. Her father is taking charge of her.”

“I’m sure he’s not thrilled about that…” I crossed my leg over my knee.

“No. More than that, though, he’s embarrassed. He offered me his sincerest apologies. She’ll be on a tight leash. You don’t have to worry about her anymore.”

I scoffed. “How can you be sure?”

“I let him know that if she comes within a hundred feet of you, she
will
go to prison. Also, if anyone that is in any way linked to her harms you, I will bury her or him. His business is faltering. I can give it a solid push.” Hunter clasped his fingers in his lap. “I’ve made sure that he’ll keep her in line or he’ll cut her off. Blaire would never be able to function without money. She’s out of your hair.”

“That’s good, but the damage has been done.” I wiped a tear away.

“I’m sorry, Livy.” Hunter took something out of a drawer and came around his desk. He knelt in front of me, holding a key. “Will you consider moving in with me? You can change anything in the house you want. If you need a room to yourself, you can have it. An office, your own TV room, anything. Whatever you want.”

I smiled as my heart warmed. The flat had never really been mine—I knew that. I’d loved it because it was Blaire-free. Since that was no longer true, it had lost its appeal. What I wanted was to be with Hunter. I didn’t really care where.

“Yes,” I said, taking the key. “Okay, yes.”

A smile lit up his face as he pulled me up and hugged me close. “I’m sorry it had to happen this way, but I’m glad of the final resolution. Let me close everything down and we’ll go. I’ll take you home.”