Chapter 18
Elliot
The visual of her on her knees in front of me is one of my favorite things. I’ve only seen and experienced it once, but even the thought of it has my cock rock hard.
Her light mocha hair, once dyed blonde, is in my hand, her mouth swallowing me as if it’s the perfect size for her. Those hazel eyes look up at me, dancing with lust and empowerment, and I nearly explode in her mouth then and there.
“Your lips wrap around my cock so damn perfectly.” My hand tightens in her hair just before I thrust into her mouth a little more. The moan that escapes her is like fucking music to my ears, and the vibrations nearly do me in.
I slam my free hand against the shower wall in front of me, the water cascading down my back. I should concentrate on keeping myself in control, but her mouth feels like absolute perfection. It’s warm, and the way her tongue circles my head when she pulls me out hits me where I need it.
Her mouth slides down my cock, licking every single inch of me until she reaches my balls and takes them in her mouth. She gives them one good suck, and I’m almost done for.
“Fuck, Aria. Just like that, baby. Suck harder.”
At the image of my balls in her mouth and her hand on my cock, I stroke my cock frantically, coming so damn hard, the sound of the water hitting the marbled title is not enough to conceal my moans.
My cum paints the wall in front of me, and it takes me a second to remember the image playing in my head was not real whatsoever, one pulled from my memories of our time together.
I would like to say it’s the first time I’m stroking my cock to her, but since she’s been taking care of Grayson, it’s been happening more and more.
In the early mornings, I play back waking up to her and grinding against her ass.
During the late nights, I relive pushing her against the window of my hotel room, my hand sliding down to her core, her panting moans in my ear.
My dick both loves and hates every damn minute of it, because with just a simple look in Aria’s direction, or even a thought about her, I’m hard.
The woman has turned me into a damn teenager, and I haven’t even touched her.
Hell, I haven’t even had a conversation with her that doesn’t have to do with my brother.
She’s all business, and if I even try to sway the conversation in a different direction, I get hit with sexy as fuck sass and an eye roll.
She is trying everything in her power to avoid me and ignore we met once upon a time. I should very much take a step back and let her be, but just like when I saw her in the hotel lobby three years ago, she’s like a magnet pulling me to her, and I can’t ignore it.
The thing is, it’s not just the memories of our night together tugging me in.
I want to get to know her better. I hear my brother or Henry say something that makes her laugh, and I want to be in their place.
I want to be the recipient of her smiles, her looks, everything she has to offer.
I don’t just want her body, I want all of her, but she and I aren’t on the same page. Nowhere near it.
My determination is telling me to keep trying, though. I will, but there is only so much rejection or professional conversations a guy can take. The woman has been back in my life for a total of seven days, and I feel like I’m about to lose it.
Composing myself, I grab the detachable shower head to clean off. I finish the rest of my shower and get ready for my day.
There isn’t much on my schedule, but I do need to head to the office for a budget meeting with my team and to sign a few contracts.
I’m sliding on my watch as I make my way to the staircase, trying to remember the schedule my assistant sent me last night, when I run into Aria as she comes out of the room I designated as hers.
She’s fresh faced, like she just came out of the shower, only mascara coating her eyelashes. Her hair is still wet, falling over her shoulders, and she is dressed is black leggings that mold to her legs along with a purple San Francisco State hoodie. She’s fucking breathtaking.
The fact that she has been sleeping here, just a few doors down from me, to take care of my brother has been fucking torture, especially when she looks like this.
As she gives me a smile, I take note of her nails—they’re a shade of purple that matches her sweater. She does that a lot, matches her nails to her outfit. She must change them every few days. It’s cute.
“Good morning,” I say, throwing a nod in her direction as I slide my hands into the pockets of my slacks once my watch is in its place.
I watch as her eyes move down my body, taking in every inch of me before she responds, her voice scratchy. “Good morning.”
“How was your night with your patient?” I ask, trying to see if she will give me more than just the two word replies I’ve been getting since she started working with Grayson.
“It was fine,” she says, and I start to think I’m only going to get those three words, but she continues. “He’s easy to work with.”
An additional five words. I’m heading in the right direction.
“Glad to hear my brother is only a pain in the ass to me.”
She lets out a breathy laugh, and I give myself a pat on the back for it. “I didn’t say he wasn’t a pain in the ass. He is. He’s also a big crybaby when I tell him it’s time to do his walking, but he’s still easy. He reminds me of the kids I work with.”
Fucking success.
“Do you like working with kids?” I ask, leaning against the wall, not giving a shit that I have to get going. Aria is more important right now.
She nods, letting her tote bag drop from her shoulder. She’s getting comfortable.
“I do. I always found it easier than working with adults. It hurts to see them sick or in pain, but when they smile or laugh, it’s the best thing in the world.”
“It sounds like you found your calling,” I say, throwing her another smile.
“Yeah, I think I did.” She gives me a smile back.
I don’t know how long we stand there, just smiling at each other. It feels like both forever and the fastest split second in the world.
Ask her to dinner.
Ask her to grab a drink with you.
Ask her to go anywhere with you.
Before anything comes out of my mouth, she speaks. “I’m going to go check if Sophia is here so I can give her a rundown of last night.”
“Sure,” I say.
She throws a small smile my way as she leaves. Since I don’t want to cut my time short with her, I hang back a bit, busying myself in the kitchen, cleaning even though it’s already clean, just so I can make it to the elevator at the same time as her.
When I hear her tell Sophia and my brother she will see them later, I quickly grab my keys and wallet from the counter and make my way to the elevator, only a few steps behind her.
“Need a ride to work?” I ask. I know she usually takes public transportation if she has time or a ride share if she is running late.
She looks back to me, giving me a half smile. “It’s okay. Don’t want you going out of your way.”
There’s a hint of sarcasm in her voice, and my dick likes it a little too much. “It won’t be out of my way.”
She gives me a look like she doesn’t believe me. “Aren’t the Lane offices like three blocks over?”
Well, I’ll be damned. She looked me up. That, or Grayson told her where I worked, because I know I didn’t. When we met, the only thing I told her is that I was in acquisitions and I was in Vegas to buy property.
“And how do you know where I work?” I throw her a smirk as I press the button for the elevator, waving her forward when the doors open.
Her eyes roll as she walks past me. “Grayson told me.”
He very much could have, but I don’t think he told her the offices were only a few blocks over.
I press the button for the parking garage and turn to smile are her. “I don’t believe you. Did you look me up?”
Those eyes go a little wide, like she was caught doing something she shouldn’t have been. “No.”
The word came out a little too quickly, and we both know it.
I take a step closer to her, and she takes a step back, eyeing me a certain type of way, like she wants me to cage her in but knows she shouldn’t.
“You can tell me if you did, you know? This is a judgment free zone.” Funny, because I think if she were to find out how deep I looked into her, she would definitely judge me.
I get another eying, but this time, instead of a rebuttal, she lets out a sigh. “Okay. Fine. I looked you up, but only because I finally had your last name.”
My eyebrows raise a little. “I’m surprised you didn’t ask Santos for my information.”
He probably would have given it to her too, at the very least my last name.
Her shoulders tense a bit, and her eyes move to look at the number of floors we are climbing down. “I didn’t see him after he left me with you that night.”
That’s a lie. I know it is. But I can’t really tell her I know the best friend she went on that trip with is married to Santo’s best friend and that he sees her regularly.
Not that I’m keeping tabs on who she hangs out with, but in the years since our little meet cute, I have asked Santos how she was whenever we saw each other in person.
He was hesitant at first, but eventually he came around and would tell me how she was if I asked. It didn’t take much to realize that he was protective of her in his own way. A part of me was glad to see it. That meant he was looking out for her, and she had protection if needed.
“That’s a shame. Did you find out anything interesting about me?”
She still doesn’t face me. “Not really. Just that you come from a mega rich family and work at said family’s company.”
“Damn, and here I thought you dug deep into my dating life.”
The tint of pink that covers her cheeks tells me she did indeed look into my dating life. I hold in my laugh and change the subject, one that hopefully benefits me.
“If you want to find out interesting things about me, maybe you should let me take you to dinner, learn all the nitty gritty.”
Her eyes finally move away from watching the numbers go down. “Like a date?”
There’s no point in holding back. “Yes. Like a date.”
One night with her in Vegas wasn’t enough. I want more.
She turns back to face me. “I don’t date.”
That takes me by surprise. A woman like her has to have a list of ex-boyfriends a mile long. Was the last one a piece of shit? Did someone hurt her? Did she swear off all men because of it?
I don’t even know if the fucker exists, but I know I want to kill him.
“What about dinner, just as friends?”
“Are we friends?” she asks just as the doors open to the garage.
“I would like to think we are,” I say, waving for her to walk ahead of me. She shakes her head as she does.
“I’m sorry. I can’t. Go to dinner with you, that is, or let you give me a ride.” She throws me a tight smile before turning and heading to where the security guard on duty can call for a ride share or a cab.
“Why?” I call after her, needing at least a smidge of an explanation.
“I don’t fraternize with my patients or their families.”
* * *
I wasn’t late to my budget meeting. I arrived at the office with plenty of time; I even got a cup of coffee on the way, but my mind was definitely not in it.
All I could think about was Aria.
Halfway through, I was tempted to text Drake to see if he could get me get me Aria’s dating history and to see if she was dating anyone before coming to Chicago. He had told me once, she had gone to dinner with someone but I didn’t press for information.
I kept telling myself I should take the reason why Aria doesn’t want to go on a date with me for what it is and not insert myself into anything I shouldn’t. Grayson is her patient, and if he were in the hospital, her fraternizing rule would very much apply.
After the meeting ended, I tried to go over the minutes so I could get some semblance of the morning, but as I looked through all the numbers, my mind was still very much on Aria.
I’m on my third read through of the reports, still very much seeing jumbled up numbers, when I get frustrated and nearly rip my glasses off my face.
Needing to take a break, I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to take a few calming breaths. I almost have Aria out of my head, even if it’s just the for a little while, when my cellphone rings.
Why is my first instinct to hope it’s her?
I need to make a therapy appointment.
Since the phone is sitting right on my desk, I don’t even check to see who it is. I’m going to be disappointed either way.
“Yeah?” I say, bringing the phone to my ear.
“Eli.” When the male voice hits my ears, my shoulders tense.
One second. Two.
“Well, if it isn’t the kingpin himself,” I say, keeping my voice unbothered.
Leonardo Morales doesn’t call out of the blue to tell me about his day. There is either something going on with the deal with Dante or it’s something else.
My friend lets out a grunt. “You make it sound like I’m royalty or some shit.”
A small laugh escapes me. “Well, some people think you are. I’m just going along with it.”
“People say the same about you. You do come from one of the richest families in world.”
I nod, even if he can’t see it. “Touché. What can I do for you?”
My shoulders are stiff waiting for his response.
He’s silent for a beat. “We have a problem.”
“What kind of problem?”
Leo sighs. “The kind that could possibly land me in fucking jail.”