Chapter Fourteen
CALLIE
I lay awake in bed, unable to quiet my restless mind. It had been like this every night for the past two weeks.
Tonight, my thoughts strayed to drinks the previous night with Hugh. The way he undressed me with his eyes, his eagerness to get me back to his place. For the past few weeks, we had found an easy rhythm. Meeting up for a few cocktails before heading back to his place—our old place—to hook up.
Last night was different. Instead of helping me escape the stress of school and work, Hugh cornered me in another attempt to salvage our relationship.
What had started out as a fun and casual evening quickly took a turn.
He put his hand on my leg and spoke the words I wished I had heard from him a year ago—hell, three months ago, even.
“Listen, Cal, I know we agreed to keep things casual. But things have been so good between us lately. I know I wasn’t giving you what you needed, and that’s on me.
“Hugh, I—”
“Wait, just let me get this out, please. I guess I had just gotten so comfortable with the way things were between us that I lost sight of what actually made you happy. But I think we could be happy again if you’d give us a shot.”
After that, I couldn’t bring myself to sleep with him—not when Emmett had consumed my every waking thought since Valentine’s Day.
“Hugh, I’m sorry. But it’s over. I don’t think we should keep seeing each other.”
He had been pissed when I said I wanted to go home—alone. He dropped me at Marco’s apartment without another word and sped off as soon as I shut the passenger door.
I tossed and turned, still aching for the release I had denied myself last night.
But while I always got off with Hugh, it was only because I made it happen for myself.
He’d never prioritized my pleasure. I started to wonder why I’d been going to him for stress relief.
Perhaps I needed more than just an orgasm.
Hugh’s face blurred in my mind, replaced by seductive blue eyes and a cocky smirk that always seemed to be focused solely on me.
I had been avoiding Emmett for weeks before he cornered me this morning and demanded lunch. I’d been kind of impressed at how effectively I managed to minimize our interactions. I made sure I was never alone.
I was also sick with it. I missed him. But that wasn’t something I could ever admit out loud.
He’d caught me off guard this morning. I had just unloaded my bag and sat down at my desk when his deep timbre echoed across the twenty-seventh floor.
Something in him had snapped. He didn’t seem to give a fuck that half the floor was staring.
Thankfully, he respected me enough to not cause a scene. Which was how I found myself at lunch.
The entire walk there, I replayed the moment his lips had crashed into mine at the library fundraiser, his strong hands gripping my hips possessively, as if he couldn’t get enough of me.
That memory had been on an endless loop in my mind for weeks, making it impossible to focus or sleep.
It should have been wrong, but it felt so damn right.
Now, I went to bed every night craving his touch, imagining what it would feel like to surrender myself to him.
With a frustrated sigh, I rolled onto my side and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the memory from my mind and will myself to sleep. My body yearned for something—no, someone—I couldn’t have.
So, I avoided him. Because Emmett was my boss, off-limits.
“Roll your eyes at me again and I will bend you over this table and fuck you right here.”
I shivered as his lunchtime confession rattled through my brain.
He had never spoken to me like that before.
While I knew he was attracted to me, hearing him put it in such blunt terms had sent a bolt of lust straight to my pussy.
I was wet the rest of the workday, squirming in my chair as I thought about all the things he could do to me.
The ghost of his lips brushed against mine. His hands gripped my waist as our tongues danced. I could practically feel his hands caressing my curves, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. Heat pooled between my legs, demanding to be satiated.
I couldn’t take it anymore. Slipping my hand underneath the covers, I sought out my throbbing clit, stroking it through damp panties.
My fingers traced the sensitive skin beneath, finding my swollen folds and driving myself wild with need. I bit my lip as I remembered the taste of his mouth, the roughness of his stubble against my cheek. I whimpered softly.
My breathing quickened as I slipped a finger inside myself, marveling at how wet I was.
I imagined his growl of satisfaction in my ear as his large, calloused hands squeezed my ass cheeks.
Fantasies of him throwing me over his desk, tearing off my clothes, and burying himself deep inside me flashed through my mind.
I gasped at the raw intensity of it. The power he held over me, the way he took what he wanted without hesitation or apology.
I grew needier still, sliding another finger into myself, desperate to feel full.
I imagined him grabbing my wrists, teaching me a lesson about disobedience as he drove into me.
I moaned into the pillow, picturing his eyes dark with lust as he plundered my tight heat, pushing himself deeper with every thrust. My hips bucked against nothing as I frantically finger-fucked myself.
In my fantasy, Emmett’s hands were everywhere at once, claiming me, marking me as his. His lips pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses down my neck, his tongue flicking over my collarbone, sending chills down my spine. I moaned, arching my back, wordlessly pleading for more.
He seized my hips, guiding me closer, consumed by the fire raging between us. “You’ve wanted this, haven’t you?” fantasy-Emmett growled in my ear, his voice low and dangerous.
“God, yes, Emmett.” I moaned into my pillow, unable to stop myself.
I came with his name on my lips and my back arching off the bed, body trembling.
As I lay there, panting and sated, I wondered if this chaos in my mind and body was just a manifestation of sexual frustration. Could I have avoided all this if I’d slept with Hugh last night?
Perhaps I could have satisfied my body, but what about my mind?
No. I couldn’t lie to myself. My mind wanted Emmett Price.
I was addicted to his charm and wit and sexy-as-fuck intelligence.
I had never been with a man who had ambitions as grand as mine.
I was constantly awed by the projects he championed and the culture he built.
He had introduced sweeping reforms at one of the largest companies in the country.
Emmett Price wanted to change the world.
But no matter how much I wanted him, I couldn’t give in. Because my ambitions were as important as his. I wouldn’t live in any man’s shadow.
* * *
“Callie, you with us?”
Emmett’s voice jolted me out of my daydream. I was supposed to be focusing on the meeting we were currently having with Maggie and Glenn about the community development project. Instead, I was imagining what it might be like to wake up next to Emmett every morning.
“Oh, uh, yep. Sorry.”
He smiled at me like he knew what I was thinking. And my damn heart did this funny little stutter.
The meeting went on, but my mind was elsewhere. Emmett’s voice had woven a spell around me. It was only when the meeting ended that I snapped out of my reverie, feeling a strange mix of guilt and longing.
As everyone gathered their belongings, I made a snap decision. I needed to get to the bottom of something I’d been wondering about for weeks. “Hey, Maggie, can I talk to you for a second?”
“Oh, sure!” She changed paths, moving to take the seat next to mine. Emmett shot me a curious glance but continued out of the room.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sounds scandalous. What’s up?”
“Are you and Glenn…”
“Yeah, we’re together.”
I shifted uncomfortably, cheeks burning. “But he’s your boss.”
She shrugged, unfazed. “Yeah, well, these things happen sometimes. We’re both adults.”
Were things really that simple? My eyes drifted across the empty conference room to Emmett’s vacated seat. Faint traces of his cologne still hung in the air like a whispered temptation.
Maggie watched me with a sly smile. “What, you’ve never thought about it? With Emmett, I mean?”
I sputtered a vehement denial, but she just laughed.
“Please, Cal. I’ve seen the way you two look at each other when you think no one’s paying attention.”
My face was on fire now. Had we been that obvious? Sure, there was no denying we had chemistry—indescribable chemistry that electrified the air anytime we were in the same room. But I’d fought so hard to keep things professional.
Marco’s mocking voice floated into my head. “You call making heart eyes at the guy across the conference ‘professional’?”
Dammit! I was going to kill him. With a frustrated sigh, I gathered my things, desperate to escape Maggie’s knowing look.
Before I could bolt, she reached out a hand to stop me.
“Callie, look…everyone loves you. You are brilliant and kind and funny. No one would think twice about anything happening between you and Emmett.”
I felt a trickle of relief, but she wasn’t finished.
“Just don’t pursue him for the wrong reasons. He’s been through a lot, and in case you haven’t noticed, he is pretty beloved around here. If you hurt him, you will find yourself surrounded by a mob of angry coworkers.”
Her warning rang in my ears as I headed back to my desk. The last thing I wanted was to compromise Emmett’s happiness or my standing at the company. But the more I tried to push aside my feelings, the more they took root.
I saw Emmett waiting by the elevators, hands shoved in his pockets, tie disheveled in that artfully casual way that never failed to make my pulse spike. When our eyes met, the corner of his mouth quirked up in that devastating half-smile.
Screwed. I am so screwed.
Maybe it was time to embrace it.