Authors: Jess Dee
“What? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Hardly ridiculous when you won’t acknowledge my existence outside of my office.”
“Of course I acknowledge your existence. We work together.”
“We don’t have to just work together. We could actually be—” he clutched his heart dramatically and gasped, “—friends.”
Melissa almost tripped but righted herself just in time. She shrugged off Ben’s steadying hand. “I don’t want friends. I’ve already told you that. I want to make partner. I don’t have time for a social life.”
“Partner or not, we all need friends. Life’s too short and too lonely to go without.” Man, had he ever learned that lesson from experience.
“I’m doing just fine without, thank you very much.”
Melissa wouldn’t look at him.
“Are you? Really? You’re reduced to fucking a colleague in an office when the rest of the company has gone home. Is that what you want? Emotionless sex to tide you over until you make partner? And then what? Socially, your life is going to be perfect all of a sudden? Because you’ve succeeded in your business goals, you’ll miraculously have a life?”
She turned to glare at him, but anger was not the only emotion he saw on her face. Hurt and pain framed her ire. It made Ben want to take her in his arms and hold her. Hug her. Protect her. Make everything better.
“Making partner is my life, Cowley. Sex with you is a…fringe benefit.”
Ouch! “Ah, so now I’m a fringe benefit. Nice.”
“I never gave you any reason to think you would be more.” No, she hadn’t, had she? And yet there’d been moments, several of them, when they’d connected on a level that hadn’t been purely sexual. Or purely professional. And it was those moments that gave him reason to want more from her.
“You never gave me reason to believe you wanted to fuck me either, until you stripped naked in my office.”
Melissa shrugged. “What can I say? I’m full of surprises.”
She looked so controlled, looked so together, but Ben suspected she was anything but. He suspected that beneath that distant veneer was a lonely woman screaming out for company. For friends. Maybe even for love.
They reached the car park and for the second time in a few minutes climbed into a lift. Ben did nothing, leaving it to Melissa to push the required button.
“Surprise me now. Have lunch with me tomorrow.”
She shook her head and furrowed her brow, looking worried. “I’ll have sex with you tomorrow night. More than that, I draw the line.”
“You have a deal. On the sex front. As for the lunch—I insist. It’s not a date. We can call it a business lunch. Hit the coffee shop on the ground floor. After all, you were the one who pointed out I miss too many lunches. C’mon, sweetness, help me correct that now.”
“Don’t call me that.” She stepped out of the lift and took a left. Ben followed. The level was all but deserted, just one car parked on the other end. A black Peugeot Cabriolet. Nifty little car. Racy. Nothing like he’d expected her to drive.
On second thought, having met the other side of Melissa, maybe the Peugeot was the perfect car for her.
“Don’t call you sweetness? Sorry. No can do. Now that I’ve had a couple of tastes of you, I know it to be the truth. Can’t call you anything else.”
“Back off, Cowley.”
“Tell you what. Forget going out to lunch. I’ll bring sandwiches to you. We can eat in your office. Or mine. But if we eat in mine, you know I’m going to have to have dessert.” His mouth watered at the thought.
She clicked the remote for her car, and her indicator light flashed. Faster than he’d anticipated, her door was open and she was seated in the front, the keys in the ignition. Ben crouched next to her before she could slam the door shut.
“No sandwiches,” she informed him. “No lunch. No socializing. No nothing. You and me, we’re about work and we’re about sex. And that’s it.”
Ben frowned at her. “I’m confused. I thought you wanted me to be happy.”
She gaped at him.
“Your words. You said that. Last night.”
“When I offered you sex. I figured that would make you happy.”
“It did. It does. But I’d be happier spending time with you. Not talking about sex. Or work.” He screwed up his nose. “Nope, cut that. We can definitely talk about sex. And other stuff too.”
Melissa sighed. “Please, let’s not turn this into something it’s not. I can’t afford to be distracted now. Too much is at stake if I lose my focus. We’re sex, Ben. That’s all.”
Hell, she was closed and unapproachable. Nothing like the wanton sex goddess who wanted to know everything about him not half an hour ago. “Are we sex now?”
“No, we’re colleagues now. Period.” She didn’t look at him when she answered. Her expression was stoic, unemotional. But she shifted just the tiniest bit in her seat, and that was all Ben needed.
He placed a hand on her knee, letting his fingers inch under her skirt. “So if I moved my arm up your leg, let my hand trail over your inner thigh, I wouldn’t find you wet and wanting?”
Her cheeks turned scarlet. “You wouldn’t find me anything, because your arm is not moving another inch.”
Too late. He’d already let his fingers whisper up her thigh, already lost himself to the heady feel of silk and heat.
“Ben—”
“Have to touch you, Mel.”
“Leave me alone!” Her command was a hoarse whisper.
“Open up for me, sweetness.” The fog of desire quickened his breath.
“No. Please, go away.” But her body’s response contradicted her words. She parted her legs for him.
“That’s it.” His hand crept up over her smooth skin. “A little wider.”
She slumped against the back of the seat, spreading her thighs as far as her skirt would let her, allowing him in. It was a tight fit but worth the effort. He found her exactly as he’d hoped to. Wet and warm. Slick with desire.
“Mel, you’re killing me.”
Her response was a soft moan.
He couldn’t resist drawing his finger through all that heat, from her swollen pussy lips up over her clit and back down again. She shuddered at his touch.
“You feel so good.” Ben closed his eyes, let his hand and her soft whimpers lead him. “So fucking good. You make me want to do wicked things to you. All night long.” He played with her bud, rubbing it gently, listened to her labored breathing.
His ankles burned as they held his weight, and the muscles in his legs bunched and began to cramp, but he refused to move an inch. All he wanted now was to taste another one of her addictive kisses. “Lean in close, sweetness. Give me your mouth.”
He opened his eyes in time to see her roll her head to the side so she faced him. Her eyes were dark with desire, her lips parted.
“Closer.” His mouth was parched, desperate for a sip of her.
She inched closer. He lifted to meet her. And then her mouth was on his, and he drank from it deeply. Her lips, soft against his, her tongue, velvet warmth, her taste…intoxicating.
Mmmm.
He dipped a finger inside her, angling it just so to compensate for her sitting position, and knew in that moment, that just as Melissa had claimed she wanted to know everything about him, he wanted to know everything about her. Every single thing. From what she looked like nude to what drove her so hard to succeed. And as erotic and sexy as slipping his finger in her pussy while she sat in her car was, more than anything, he wanted to take her home, lay her on his bed and make love to her. Unhindered. Unwatched. Just him and her.
Her restless sigh and the clenching of her inner walls told him she was close. Very close.
Ben did the very thing he knew she’d hate. He withdrew his finger.
She moaned her dissatisfaction into his mouth.
He pulled away from her lips.
“Noooo.”
He clenched his hand into a fist so as not to give in to what they both wanted him to do. “Have lunch with me tomorrow.”
She swiveled her head from side to side. “Touch me.”
“Sandwiches in your office. That’s all.”
Her face was flushed. “You’re a bastard.”
“I’m not. I’m a real nice guy. Have lunch with me so I can prove it to you.”
“I don’t want lunch.”
“Honestly? I don’t either. It’s the conversation I’m after. Personal conversation. About you, not work.”
“Why do you have to make this personal? Why can’t we just keep it physical?”
“Because physical isn’t enough for me. I need more from you than just sex.”
She looked at him with big, uncertain eyes. “The…the sex isn’t good enough?”
“The sex is amazing,” he rushed to assure her. “I just want more from you than amazing sex.”
She twisted in her seat and whimpered. “I’ve given you my body. What more is there?”
“There’s a whole person in there I’d like to get to know.”
Melissa glared at him.
He swiped a finger over her clit, reminding her what she was bargaining for.
Her entire body bucked. “Fine. Lunch. But that’s all.”
“That’s all for now, anyway.” He couldn’t contain his satisfied smile. Nor could he hold back another second. He gave her his finger, rewarding her wholeheartedly for her decision. As he slid the digit inside her, he stroked the pad of his thumb over her clit.
Melissa stopped breathing.
Had the door been closed, steam would likely have misted the windows. The sounds of her pleasure filled the car, echoed through his ears, and then she was coming. Clasping his finger inside her, holding it, releasing it, the velvety walls of her pussy clenching rhythmically.
When she collapsed against her seat, spent, he pulled his hand away, brought his finger to his mouth and licked it clean, tasting her passion all over again.
A powerful shudder rocked her body as she watched him.
Ben cast her a smug smile as he stood up, stretching the kinks from his legs. “See you at lunch, sweetness.”
He leaned in, planted a kiss on her luscious lips and walked off to find his own car, parked three levels up from hers.
Chapter Six
Melissa eyed the sandwich. “Thank you, but I’m lactose intolerant. I can’t eat cheese.” How had she let him talk her into this? What had she been thinking when she’d agreed to lunch?
“You are?” Ben looked surprised. “Funny, you never mentioned that before.”
“There’s a lot I never mentioned to you before.” Grumpy. That’s what she was. Grumpy and unimpressed. Not with Ben, mind you. With herself, for giving in to him so easily. She found it almost impossible to feel unimpressed with Ben.
“Not just to me. Thought you might have mentioned it in all those business meetings we’ve had. You know, the ones where you quite happily accepted any cappuccino ever offered?”
She glowered at him. Duh. Of course he’d seen her consume milk before. “Fine. I’m not allergic to milk. I’m allergic to you.”
He settled himself in the chair opposite hers with the desk between them. A veritable feast was spread in front of her.
He raised an eyebrow. “Did you break out in a nasty skin rash? You know, after what we did last night.”
“As a matter of fact I did.” She scratched her forearm for emphasis.
“Ah, the classic post-coital itch.” He tut-tutted. “Nope, sorry. I’ve seen it before, and it’s not me you’re allergic to. It’s the vibrator. You might wanna try a different one next time.”
Damn it, the man was incorrigible. He wouldn’t let her win this. Ben was hell-bound and determined to have lunch with her and to make conversation. “I thought this lunch was going to be about me, not sex.”
“You’re the one who brought up the post-coital itch.”
“Huh!” She folded her arms over her chest. “I did not. I merely mentioned being allergic to you.”
Ben leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially. “You know, sweetness, when your skin flushes red and your breasts and pussy swell, it’s not allergies. It’s arousal. Big difference.”
Melissa shook her head, at a loss for words.
Ben relaxed back into his chair. “And in case you’re interested? I’m suffering from a similar affliction right now. Although, to be honest, I’d never mistake it for allergies. This is one itch I’d really like to scratch.”
Her mouth twitched into a smile. How could it not? “Could you just eat your food and stop talking?”
He selected a beef sandwich on Turkish bread smothered in mustard and took a healthy bite.
“Let’s try this,” Melissa suggested. “Let’s see how long we can go without mentioning sex. I give you five minutes, tops.” Herself, she gave about half a minute. But then what living female wouldn’t think about sex when sitting opposite Ben Cowley?
“Is that a challenge?”
She shrugged. “Take it however you’d like.”
“Challenge accepted. Okay, let’s see. Work talk is out, sex talk is out. What else can we discuss?”
Melissa helped herself to a container of fresh yogurt topped with sliced mango and passion fruit. It was her favorite. “The weather?”
“A possibility.” Ben nodded. “Or you could tell me about your drive to succeed. The need to make partner.”