Chapter 13 #2
He is right, though, after everything from last week and the fact I really do want a fresh start, maybe the receptionist did need to go. She wasn’t exactly welcoming, and how would I feel knowing she worked so closely with him every day?
“So. My boyfriend?” I question, looking down at him.
“That’s what I said.”
“Just like that, you’re not going to ask me?”
He stands, running his hands up the backs of my thighs as he moves. He lifts me, bringing my legs around his waist as he carries me to his desk, then sits me on the edge.
He drops into the chair in front of me. “I’ve dreamt about having you on this desk,” he mutters, running his hands up my thighs.
I look down at the desk as a thought crosses my mind, making me frown. Has he had her on this desk? I slip from the edge and stand in front of him, not liking the way that thought makes me feel.
“Have you had sex on your desk before?” I whisper, staring at his chest, too afraid to give him my eyes.
He doesn’t say anything, and I’m glad I don’t see his reaction. I swallow hard as he stands, towering over me. “Nina.” He cups my face, and for no reason I can explain, tears spring to my eyes. “Nina, I’ve never had sex in my office.”
My glassy eyes lift to his, and I hope he can’t see the emotion in them.
“I may have blurred lines with my staff at the end of a day, but never here, I promise.”
I lean into him, unsure as to why I feel so emotional. His woodsy smell makes me heady. “Sorry, for turning up here,” I say into his crisp white shirt, probably getting my foundation all over it. “Are you actually going to fire her?”
“Yes, she isn’t even that good.” I frown, pulling away from him. “What? No, I mean at her job, not… Jesus, Nina.” He pulls me back to him, and I let him.
“Can’t you just put her in a different role? One where she isn’t around you so much.”
He shakes his head. “No.”
I don’t want to be responsible for someone losing their job. I know how hard it is to find work in the city.
But I also know that he won’t back down and I have to let it go. For now.
“I’m glad you turned up.” He kisses my temple. “Although you did kick out my entire financial and legal team.” He chuckles into my hair.
I groan, “How embarrassing.”
“I was pissed until you declared yourself as mine.” He palms my ass. “My fiery, little Pixie.”
“Why do you call me Pixie? Is it because I’m so short?”
“No, baby, not because you’re short.” He laughs then changes the subject. “My dad, he’s invited me to dinner tomorrow, asked if I’d like to bring anyone.”
He doesn’t say any more, and I lean my head back a little to see his face, his arms still locked tight around my shoulders, keeping me held to him.
“Would you like me to come with you, Bossman?” I ask.
“Will you?”
“Of course, I’d love to meet your family.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” I smile.
Did he think I wouldn’t?
“I have a few things to finish up here before I can leave. Will you wait for me, and then we can go home?”
Home. How can something sound so right after such a short space of time?
“I need one more day.” As soon as I say the words, I cringe.
“No,” he says resolutely.
“I’m meeting the girls. I will come to your family meal tomorrow, and we can go back to yours after.”
“No. It’s been a week, Nina. I need you,” he declares, making my insides heat.
I step back from him and around the desk. I keep my eyes on him, bending at the waist, legs straight and pick up my skirt. “One more night. I’m sure you can manage.”
He’s on me before I can right myself, lifting me over his shoulder and dropping me down on one of the sofas. My skirt is ripped from my hands and thrown over his shoulder.
“You’re a tease.” He smirks, quickly pulling my thong down my legs.
“Not here!”
He dips his head, ignoring my pleas. Spreading me wide with his fingers, he leans in and licks up through my centre.
“Oh my god!” My back arches as I try to push my hips closer to him, but I’m met with nothing but air.
I open my eyes and lift my head. “Mase?”
He leans over me; one leg knelt on the sofa between my legs and the other on the floor.
“Up you get, angel, I have things to get on with.”
He gives me a devilish smirk, then stands and walks to his desk.
“You asshole.”
“To Nina.” Megan raises her glass to the centre of the table in a toast. “Who managed to get two hot men to strip her from the waist down today.”
We all clink our glasses, laughing.
I drop my head when we gain the attention of the nearby tables. “My leg was on fire, I had no other choice,” I try to justify.
“You don’t have to explain yourself, Nina. Henry has spent many summers at my aunt’s pool. I totally get it,” Lucy teases.
“Whatever.” I wave them off. “Erin texted me today. She’s flying in on Sunday. Will you girls be free? I thought we could get takeout. She’ll probably be jet-lagged, so better not to go out.”
“Sure,” Megan replies. “We could go out though?” She grins.
“Ugh, I don’t know. We’ll have work the next day and I need a weekend off, girls. I can’t afford nor stomach it,” Lucy voices.
“Me too!” I say, knowing my attempt at saving any money this month is already impossible.
“You said we would take her out? She hasn’t been home in over a year,” Megan complains.
“I know, and I feel bad for her. Why don’t we just see what she wants to do when she gets here. Hopefully she will be happy staying in.”
The waiter brings our mains and we settle into a comfortable silence as we indulge in a carb overload.
“So…” I hesitate, knowing they are going to freak. “Mason kind of made us official today.”
“Fuck off!” Megan shouts, then immediately turns to the couple in the window seat to apologise.
“Nina, that’s fast,” Lucy says, shocked.
“But holy shit! Good job, girl,” Megan says, saluting me.
Lucy clutches my hand. “You’re happy?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” I shrug, knowing I won’t be able to explain to them how it feels different with him. I probably look like a stupid dumb girl, falling for the rich guy after knowing him for five minutes.
“Well then go with it, babe. We’re here if it goes south.” She winks at me.
“Always.” chirps Megan, mimicking Lucy’s wink.
“Thanks, girls.”
“When are you seeing him next?” Lucy asks.
“Tomorrow, we’re going for dinner with his family.”
“You’re meeting the fucking family?”
“Megan!” I hiss. “You’ll have us thrown out in a minute.” I look at the waiter and smile sweetly. “And yes. It’s only food. Stop making it such a big deal, you’re giving me anxiety.”
The girls both sit quietly as they watch me like you would an animal at the zoo. Lifting my wine I take a sip, needing the quick buzz it gives me.
I know things are moving fast, it’s why I wanted the week away from him. But seeing him again today only confirmed that although it’s moving fast, it feels right.
I just hate the judgement on my friends’ faces.
“It’s too soon. I know.”
Megan shrugs, having nothing to say for once in her life, so I look over at Lucy.
She signals to the waiter. “More wine, please!”
Mase
Ice-cold hands wrap around my body, making my muscles tense under the soft touch. It takes a second before I smell her, her sweet vanilla scent engulfing me. I turn into her, bringing us nose to nose.
“Should I be concerned that you managed to get into my apartment without me?”
“It’s a penthouse,” she corrects me, eyes already closed.
I dip down, biting at her puckered nipple. She is completely naked. “Ouch!”
“Don’t be smart.”
She giggles. “I know a man.”
I shake my head, not shocked at all that Vinny let her up here. I still don’t understand his behaviour towards this woman. He tried to turn it around on me today and mentioned how I’ve changed since meeting her, but I have the motivation of getting my dick sucked. He doesn’t.
“I’ve missed you. I couldn’t wait till tomorrow,” she whispers, trying to get closer.
I wrap her tight in my arms and just hold her. Her ability to centre me is disarming. “I’ve missed you too.”
It’s just gone six p.m. when Nina breezes out through the gym doors, looking incredible.
She’s wearing a pillar box red, all-in-one thing that, at first glance, looks like it’d be fucking difficult to get her out of.
But she looks good, too good. The curve of her hip juts out as she sexily walks to me, and has me shaking my head on a laugh.
She walks around to my window, bending down and tapping on the glass.
“Mr Lowell, what are you doing here? I’m waiting on my hot date,” she purrs, pushing her head through the window, bringing our lips only inches apart.
“He’s a lucky man,” I mutter, staring at her mouth as she darts her tongue out to lick her lips.
“He is indeed. You wanna know why?”
“Enlighten me.” I lean in a fraction, giving her my ear.
“I’m hungry for him, starved for his taste. I don’t think I’ll make it through dinner.”
Fuck, I want her.
“Get in the car.”
She laughs at herself all the way around the bonnet while I try to rearrange myself in my slacks to accommodate my growing erection.
“You need a hand with that?” she says, sliding into the seat next to me.
“You are going to cop it so bad when we get home tonight, Pix. You’ll be lucky if I don’t take you on the damn dining table.”
“I was trying to calm you down, not wind you up more.”
She wanted to calm me down?
“Come here.” I pull her into me, taking her mouth in a hot kiss. She reaches between us, squeezing me through my trousers. “Fuck.” I pull away from her, gripping her hand in mine. “Later.”
“I can’t wait to meet your family,” she says, leaning back in her seat and instantly killing my hard-on.
“Charlie and Elliot will be there, Elliot’s parents too.”
“Why Elliot’s parents?”
“They’re practically family. Christmas, holidays, anything family oriented was always us and the Montgomerys growing up.”
“That’s nice. You must feel like you have a lot of support?”
All but her. “I suppose I do.”
“And your sister? Will she be there?”
I smile wide. “Yes, Scar. You’ll like her.”
“Do you see her often?” she asks, pushing her hair behind her ear as she turns in her seat to face me.
“Not as often as I’d like. She’s with Dad a lot, and I don’t tend to come out to the house much anymore.”
“Why?” She frowns.
“It’s not the same as it used to be, hasn’t been for a long time.”
“Since your mum?” she asks tentatively, sounding unsure if she should be asking.
But for some reason, I don’t feel as reluctant as I normally would to share the information with her. I want her to know. I want her to understand.
I nod once. “Everything changed after she left. The house is just that now, a house. It stopped being a home the day she died.”
“Sometimes things change, Mase, and it’s completely out of our control, but you shouldn’t cut yourself off from going out to the house, no matter how daunting it is.
I was scared to lose my mother for my entire childhood, yet once I let go and allowed other people in, people like Maggie, who gave me the love, support and a home that my mother couldn’t, everything seemed to get a bit easier.
I’ll never understand your loss, Mase. I’m not trying to compare our situations.
I’m not even sure I’ve made a solid point there—”
I pull her hand into mine and bring it to my lips, kissing the back of it. “Thank you, Nina.”
“I’m glad you invited me.”
The dark sky looms over Lowerwick Estate, making it look every bit the nightmare I remember it.
Thirteen years was all I could give my dad and Scarlet after she left.
The minute I was able to move out for college, I left.
Elliot was more than happy to have a place of our own, and our parents knew it was what I needed. It didn’t take much to convince them.
I swallow the bile that rises in my throat as Nina’s dainty hand slips into my palm. Her show of support.
For someone so small, she’s so strong—physically and mentally. A shield she puts up against the world that she openly invites me to stand behind.