Eruption - Chapter 14
Tuesday
I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around myself.
James was watching me through the reflection in the mirror.
He had that look in his eyes that instantly made me wet.
My eyes gravitated down his body. He was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs and he was clearly just as excited as me.
But there was no way he was going to make me late again today.
I walked out of the bathroom and tried to focus on what I was going to wear instead.
Before I had even made it to the closet, he grabbed me around the waist and lifted me over his shoulder.
I laughed as he threw me down onto the bed.
"I've been thinking," I said and put my hand on his chest as he leaned down to kiss me. "It's only a couple weeks to the wedding now. Maybe we shouldn't."
"Shouldn't what?" He put his hand on the knot that was holding my towel in place.
"Have sex." I grabbed his hand before he could undo my towel.
"What? Why?"
"I mean, that's a thing that people do. They wait to make the first time after the wedding special."
He laughed. "That's not a thing."
"Yes it is." I smiled up at him.
"Fine, it is. But it's not something we're going to do. You don't really want to, do you?"
"I don't know." I bit my lip.
"We're already indulging in a life of sin." He leaned between my legs, pressing his erection against me, and lightly kissed my neck. "So much sin." He bit my earlobe.
I swallowed down the moan that wanted to escape.
"Besides, you really think you can resist me for two weeks?" He untied my towel and cupped my left breast in his hand, teasing my nipple as he left a trail of kisses down my stomach.
My body squirmed beneath his. He was right. There was no way we'd be able to resist each other for that long.
He kissed my hipbone and then suddenly stopped. He smiled up at me. "Okay, game on. We'll see who breaks first."
"What? You can't just tease me like that."
He laughed. "I'm totally going to win."
"James it's not a game. And let's start tomorrow."
"No way. I have you right where I want you." He kissed my hipbone again and stood up.
"You're not serious?"
"It was your idea. Hurry up, we're going to be late." He disappeared into the closet.
Of course he turned it into a game. And he was right. He probably would win. His ass looked so amazing in those boxers.
***
"Have you told them all about your awesome fiancé that you're withholding sex from yet?"
I laughed. "No, I'm going to tell them after lunch." Today was already going better, although, the nickname Fight Club had seemed to stick. I picked at my salad. I had vowed to eat healthier before the wedding. And Ellen had packed me a lunch that consisted of virtually nothing edible.
James pushed half his sandwich toward me. I didn't hesitate to pick it up and take a huge bite.
"I don't know why you're pretending to go on a diet before the wedding," he said.
"It's the principle of the thing. I'm supposed to look my very best."
"You do."
"Is that so?" I hitched my skirt up a little and watched his eyes wander up my thighs. Maybe I could win this game. I'd have to ask Ellen to pack me a banana in my lunch tomorrow. I could definitely work with that.
"I have a lot of self control, Penny." He grabbed his sandwich back out of my hand.
"Is that why you slept with one of your students?"
He raised his left eyebrow. "The pros outweighed the cons on that one. I could have controlled myself. I just chose not to."
"Sure."
"Mhm. You have something right there." He pointed to the side of my mouth.
I wiped the side of my lip.
"Other side." He leaned forward and slid his thumb along the corner of my mouth, staring into my eyes.
Fuck. Why is that so hot?
I quickly stood up. "Well, I should probably get back to work." I grabbed the rest of my salad and tossed it in the trash, leaning over to make sure he got a good look at my ass.
"You're playing dirty."
I turned around to look at him. "So are you."
He flashed me one of his smiles that always made my knees weak. "Are you still meeting up with Melissa and Tyler tonight?"
Just thinking about it made my stomach churn. "Yeah. I figure the three of us need to talk. I don't want to put it off."
He nodded. "I'll just meet you back home later then. I'm cutting out early today. I have a few errands to run." He stood up, grabbed my waist, and pulled me in close, planting a passionate kiss against my lips.
If I thought my knees were weak before, I didn't even know how to describe this feeling. He squeezed my ass, pressing his body even more firmly against mine. When he pulled back, I was completely breathless.
"I'm totally going to win," he whispered in my ear and released me.
I knew I hadn't wanted it to be a game, but now I was determined to win. "I have a few tricks up my sleeves too."
"Bring it on, baby." He sat back down at his desk chair and turned on his monitor.
I closed the door behind me. I needed to think of something super sexy to do. I was so preoccupied while I walked back to my desk that I'm pretty sure Sierra had called my name a few times before grabbing my elbow.
"Were you just having lunch with James Hunter?" Sierra squealed.
"Umm..."
"I just saw you come out of his office."
We had reached our desks.
"What are you so excited about?" Zach asked Sierra.
"Penny's secret rendezvous with James Hunter during lunch."
"Is that why you keep ditching us for lunch?" Tavon asked. "You're eating with the boss instead? I feel slighted."
"Well, yes and no." Now was as good a time as any. Especially since I had gotten caught red handed. "I..."
"Wait!" Tavon said cutting me off. "Let us all guess what you were doing."
I sat down. "I'm just going to tell you."
"No, this is more fun. Zach, you guess first."
He shook his head. "She was probably complaining about a super annoying new coworker."
Tavon laughed. "I'm sure she was complaining about you. What is your guess, Sierra?"
Sierra stared at me for a second. "Working her way to the top?" She giggled at the thought.
I could feel my face turning red.
"Oh, shit!" Tavon said with a laugh. "You're cheating on your fiancé with your boss, aren't you? Classic."
"No." My voice sounded way more defensive than I intended it to.
"Yes you are! Your face is bright red. How the hell did you pull that one off? He's like the most eligible bachelor in the city."
"Wait, I thought you said he was engaged?" Sierra said.
"This just keeps getting better and better!" Tavon said before I could reply. "You're engaged, he's engaged, and you're both cheating and sleeping with each other. That's pretty fucked up."
"You're such an idiot. Clearly he's her fiancé," Zach said. He was staring at me intently. "James the telemarketer, I'm guessing?"
"Yes. Zach wins."
"Oh my God, what?!" Sierra squealed again. Her voice was starting to hurt my ears. "You're engaged to James Hunter? Are you serious? You're so lucky."
Tavon snickered. "So Sierra was kind of right. You slept your way into this job."
"Dude," Zach said. "You shouldn't be messing with her now. If I remember correctly, you made some pretty shitty hypotheses about her fiancé before you knew who he was."
"Penny," Tavon said. "We're cool right? Obviously James Hunter isn't whipped or desperate or controlling. I didn't mean it."
I laughed. "He actually is controlling. It's fine. I'm not going to tell him you said that."
"Wait, I think I remember reading about this," Sierra said. "James Hunter took a break from corporate America after selling Blive Tech International." She snapped her fingers. "He was a professor at some school for a year or something. And he got fired for sleeping with a few of his students."
"He resigned. And it was just one student." What is wrong with people?
"You?"
"I'm going to go get some coffee. Anybody want anything?
" When no one said anything, I got up and walked toward the break room.
They didn't need any other specifics. Everything they wanted to know was online.
I'd hide out here for a few minutes until they were done looking.
I grabbed a mug, poured myself a cup, and walked over to the sugar.
When I turned around, Zach was standing there with his arms folded in front of his chest.
"So the bruise?" He touched his cheek. "Was that him?"
Oh God. "No." I tried to walked past him, but he blocked my path.
"If you don't want to talk to me about it, you should talk to someone you..."
"No, I actually mean no. It wasn't him."
"Who was it then?"
"Why don't you believe me?"
"Well, for one, you're avoiding the question."
"I'm not. I'm just..."
"So tell me then. If it's not him, it shouldn't matter."
"Fine, you got me. I'm actually in a Fight Club."
Zach laughed.
"Really. And I can't talk about it. The first rule about Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. I don't want to be kicked out."
He laughed again. "You're too scrawny."
"You wanna bet?"
"Look, if you have a nickname for what your fiancé calls slapping you around, it doesn't make it any better. You can lie to me but you shouldn't lie to yourself."
I tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. I didn't want to be talking about this with a stranger. "I'm not lying. And I don't see why this is any of your business."
"It's not." He stared at me for another second before grabbing a cup of coffee for himself. It didn't seem like he believed me at all. "But you admitted that he's controlling and if he's hurting you..."
"He's not. Zach can you please just drop it? You can call me Fight Club as much as you want, but I don't want to talk about this."
"Okay, Fight Club," he said and shrugged his shoulders. "I was just trying to help."
"So why are you such an expert on this anyway?" He had spiked my interest. The tattoos and the tough look seemed to just be a show. He seemed kind and intuitive and for some reason genuinely cared about my safety. Maybe some kind of dark past. Everyone should be asking him questions, not me.
"I don't see why that's any of your business." He winked at me and walked back toward our desks.
I rolled my eyes and followed him out of the break room. I knew he was just trying to be nice, but I didn't appreciate all his prying. Especially if he wasn't willing to give anything away about himself either.
"You have quite the sensational past," Sierra said as I sat back down.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"So let me get this straight," Tavon said. "You fucked your professor. Got caught. Lost your scholarship to the University of New Castle and the respect of your peers. And had to switch schools because of all the scandalous rumors?"
"I chose to transfer to NYCU. We wanted a fresh start."
"So how did you pay for it? NYCU is an expensive college. Especially without instate tuition."
God.
"I'm going to take your silence as confirmation for what I already thought.
James Hunter paid for your education. And he obviously got you this job.
Everything in your life has been handed to you.
This is kind of bullshit. Do you know how hard I had to work to land this internship?
How many interviews we all had to do before we got accepted? "
"My transcript is just as good as yours or I wouldn't be here."
"I think we all know that's not true."
"I think you're missing the silver lining here," Zach said.
Tavon sighed and put his hands behind his head. "Which is?"
"Penny has an in with the boss. So if we all play our cards right, we now have a connection that none of the other interns have. You should be happy about this, not pissed off." He gave me a small smile. Having him on my side could be a good thing.
"True," Tavon said. "Maybe the four of us could get drinks one night this week? And you could bring Hunter?"
"Umm..." I let my voice trail off. I didn't know what James would think about hanging out with a bunch of his interns. "I'll ask him. But we're really busy the next few weeks."
"With all the wedding planning?" Sierra asked. "It's probably going to be the most lavish wedding of the year."
I wasn't sure what she wanted me to say. Was she waiting for me to invite her? "I can ask James about getting drinks one night though," I said instead.
"I can't wait!" Sierra said. "I've always wondered what he was like outside of work. It's like hanging out with a celebrity. I'm so jealous of your life."
"If you don't tone it down Fight Club won't even ask him," Tavon said. "We'll be cool, I promise. I'll get Sierra under control."
I laughed. I glanced at Zach, but he was just staring at me skeptically. "Yeah, I'll ask James and let you guys know." I turned my attention to the computer screen. Maybe hanging out outside of work with them would help us bond. And Zach seeing James and me together might get him off my back.