24. Julia
24
JULIA
I sat in my car outside The Bridge and chewed on my lip. I didn’t think he knew I was outside, and I didn’t know if I should go in. But I wanted to.
I’d done a lot of thinking, and my thoughts always came back to Nick. I didn’t know what the future would hold for us, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try, or at least try to try.
My phone rang.
It was Mia.
I didn’t know how she always knew what I was thinking, but it always happened between us. If she was thinking about me, I’d call her and vice versa. We called it best friend's intuition. “Hey,” I said. I opened my mouth to give her an update on the restaurant’s transition.
She didn’t wait for me to say anything. “Listen, I don’t know what you guys have going on, but just fucking figure it out. You battled worse things and came out swinging afterward. I don’t like it. It’s weird that he’s in his forties, it’s uncomfortable that he’s a client, and you are both getting over bad relationships or are both on the end of recovering from bad relationships, and I don’t know what that means for you or him. But if he fucking hurts you, I’ll rip every one of his nose hairs out with a tweezer.”
I sat in silence, in shock.
Her words absorbed into my brain and flowed into my heart. I didn’t know what I had been waiting for before, but Mia was right about one thing—I did survive the debacle with Jared. I was thriving because of it. The experience made me smarter and more impervious to fuckery than I was before.
I knew my worth now. I knew I was good at my job, but the last few months proved just how good I was. Not only did I pick up and relocate, but I had more clients than I knew what to do with, and I was able to promote Mia to partner.
Plus, we were able to hire another employee.
I didn’t know if I would have been brave enough to do any of the things I’d done if it wasn’t for the mess Jared poured over my previous life.
“Hey! Did you have a stroke?” Mia snapped me out of my thoughts and I smiled.
“No. I’m here. I just was thinking about what you said and how much I agree with it,” I said.
“I’m glad you enjoy the idea of my pulling nose hairs out of someone. I’d use tweezers.” She laughed.
I laughed. “I don’t even know where he’s at, Mia. He might not want anything, but I’ll be okay if he doesn’t want to go down that road with me. So put your tweezers away, but keep them close,” I said. I snatched up my keys. “I’m going into The Bridge, and I’m going to take some pictures of the work. I’ll be sending them to Kerri (our new assistant) for us to post via social media soon. I’d like to get some live feed also, but we’ll probably have to get permission first.”
“Go get 'em, Lady!” Mia said, and now I could hear her doing something else and knew she’d gotten distracted. Probably with something shiny.
“I don’t know what you’re doing, but be careful, please,” I said, moving to get out of the car. “Talk to you soon. Bye.”
“Bye!” Mia said. I cringed, knowing she was making some kind of weird face and waving in the air at nothing. I only hoped Kerri enjoyed Mia’s sense of humor and wasn’t freaked out by it.
I closed my car door and placed my phone in my skirt pocket and walked into the possibility of uncertainty.
“Wow,” I said, looking around at all the space. Chad, the foreman, and the crew accomplished it in a few hours. “This looks great.” I smiled at him as he touched the brim of his hard hat.
“Thanks, Julia,” he said and waved me over to the table of hard hats.
“Um, actually, I needed to speak with Nick about what he wants me to take pictures of for social media marketing first. But I’d love to come back and get a live feed if you’re alright with it?” I asked.
“You’ll need different shoes and you have to sign a waiver, but I can make that happen for you,” he said, pointing to my heels. “Nick went back into his office. I think he’s boxing things up.”
“Thanks so much. I’ll be back. Let me know where the waiver is, and I’ll make sure to bring steel-toed shoes next time.” I smiled at him.
He looked at me with an impressed expression and tipped the brim of his hat again. “We have them onsite so when you bring your shoes, you let me know and we’ll get you all official and you can run around as long as you’re not in anyone’s way,” he said.
“I appreciate it, Chad. Thanks,” I said, waving as I walked back into the entryway and down the hall to Nick’s office.
I gave a gentle knock and opened the door without waiting for him. When I opened the door, he looked in my direction and tipped the tumbler at me. I cocked my head and bit my lip, feeling my brows knit together. “Hi.” I took a tentative step into the office and closed the door. “What’s wrong?” I asked, walking closer to him.
“Nothing.” He knocked back the rest of the alcohol and stood. “I’m celebrating a move into a new life.” His eyes roamed my legs and landed on my heels, then carved their way back up my eyes. My body warmed the longer he looked at me.
I took a step forward, the ache between my thighs already throbbing with want. It's just what he did to me. Being alone with him made this happen, and it wasn't an unwelcome feeling. “That’s good to celebrate,” I said. “You don’t look happy, though.” I took another step forward, closing the gap between us. I wanted to kiss away whatever was making him sad.
“I…” He stopped himself. “The restaurant has lost a lot of business to the bar.” He pointed to the door indicating the one across the street. “Last month, Kendra pumped people in like she was trying to save them from a comet getting ready to strike the planet.”
Laughter flipped over my lips. “That’s a very specific reason for people to go to a bar,” I said, stepping a little closer now, feeling his body heat against mine. “But it isn’t going to last,” I said. “You’re upgrading, making things the way you want them to be, remember?”
“Yeah.” His eyes bounced over my face. “But what if it’s too late? What if I can’t save it?”
“You can.” A soft smile spread over my lips as his hands met my waist and he pulled me into his body. I let out a quiet gasp as my body lined up with his, as his hard shaft pressed into my thigh. Was it the alcohol or did our chemistry just spark this hard? “The upgrade is going to be amazing,” I said as his arms wrapped around my back and his hands pressed me into him. “Everything is salvageable,” I whispered.
“Why do you have to wear those damn heels and skirts all the damn time?” he dropped his head. His lips hovered over mine.
I brought my lips up to his, giving him a light kiss. I pulled back to say, “I thought you liked them?” A charge burst through my body when his gaze connected with mine.
The air around us tightened, and his hand roamed over my back, up my shoulders, and tangled into my hair as it supported the back of my head. “I do,” he growled and brought his lips down on mine with the force of a hammer. I moaned as his tongue beat across mine, opening up every part of myself for him. “Too much, sometimes,” he grunted.
This was just supposed to be a quick visit to snap some pictures and his gravity sucked me in. He always sucked me in. I loved it, despite being apprehensive. Despite my heart being scared of rushing in and being hurt or ruining things.
He spun me toward the desk and pushed me onto the top. Then he leaned into me, and my legs opened as he pressed his hard cock against my core, with only thin slips of fabric between us as my skirt bunched around my hips. I fought to keep my cry contained to this room, but if anyone was walking by the door, I was positive they would have heard it.
His hands made their way up my skirt, and everything between my thighs was saturated, ready for him to slide into me. He broke the kiss and yanked my panties down my thighs, pulling them over my heels, and shoved them into his pocket. “These are mine now,” he said, lowering me to the desk.
Before I could say anything, he spread my legs and sat in his chair. He rolled toward me, his head diving between my legs, under my skirt.
His mouth met my pussy, and his tongue slid over my clit. I fought harder to keep my scream low. But as his jaw worked over the delicate bundle of nerves, sending flares of electric heat through my system, a long, slow moan fell out.
He lifted my knees over his shoulders and pressed the tip of his tongue into the center of my most sensitive place, and my back arched. My scream, buried under the noise of a jackhammer, let me release the pleasure I was feeling from my throat with no worry someone would walk in or hear.
He stopped and brought his head out from under my skirt. “Good God, woman. You’re freaking dripping for me.” I propped myself up on my elbows and watched as he unleashed his cock into the room, dropping his pants and thrusting into me without a second thought.
The scream he pumped out of me was no longer quiet, and I was positive the construction crew could hear everything. I didn’t care.
His large hand grabbed at my breast, tweaking my nipple as he pushed inside me and drew his dick out of me slowly. Then he thrust again, just to pull out at a snail's pace.
My voice vibrated with the sensation buzzing in my lower half.
I threw my head back and let him fuck me, right and good, and gave him the sounds of passion he delivered to me. I lay there, paralyzed by pleasure, as his dick pinned me to the desk and his fingers found their way under my shirt to ravage my breasts.
“Fuck, Julia. I can’t fucking take it.” He thrust into me harder, and I pulled him down so we were kissing. The movement proved to be just what I needed as the head of his dick rubbed against the sweet spot inside me, and before our lips could meet, a heat flared between my thighs and Nick sent me rocketing to the moon.
He held me to him as I writhed and spasmed over his dick and kept the climax alive far longer than I’ve ever had before. He brought his mouth down to mine and swallowed the scream that came with my orgasm.
Just as the final part of the orgasm drifted away and my limbs slackened, he pressed me back down onto the desk and groaned, his dick spasming inside me. He spilled everything he had into me and started to collapse on me.
My arms threaded around his neck as his body went limp. His spicy scent overtook me, and he buried his face into my neck, kissing and licking at the spots he already knew were sensitive, made even more so by the climax I just had.
When he pulled back, I placed a hand onto his cheek and his fingers slid up my skirt to grab my ass. My eyes flipped shut, and I hummed with the sensation. He dropped his forehead to mine, and I lifted up to kiss him.
Our tongues lapped over each other, not sated, but satisfied for now.
“That was a nice surprise,” I whispered. His sapphire eyes glinted down at me, and a small spark of happiness settled in my heart. He kissed me again with tenderness this time, and his hand cupped my cheek.
When he pulled away, the look on his face was something I wanted to see more of and have in my life. I was positive I’d never seen anyone look at me that way.
But I loved seeing it on his face.
I opened my mouth to say something as he slid out of me, and a new emotion flickered through his eyes. Shock, awe, then guilt.
“Oh, shit,” he said and pulled away completely, and I sat up, reaching for him, but he twisted out of my grasp, zipping and buttoning up his pants.
“What?” I asked, trying to get him to look at me, if not for the very least to get my underwear back.
“Nothing. I’m… I’m sure you have other things—people—to get back to.” He turned his back, and I got off his desk.
“Nick,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. My eyes stung, realizing that I might have been too late to tell him I’d wanted to be with him.
“No,” he snapped, spinning to me. Hardness filled his eyes. “I’ll see you for the re-opening. We can keep everything else business-related.”
The wrench in my chest was enough to let me know I needed to go. He didn’t want me for anything but sex, and that was "goodbye" sex. I nodded, dropping my hand and leaving without another word.
I was going to be fine, no matter what.
Even if it did hurt for a little while.
I was going to work it out for myself.