Chapter 28
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My head shoots up to confirm I’m not imagining it.
Despite everything I’ve said, Oliver is smiling. A wide, toothy, genuine smile, his eyes creased as he tries to contain his
laughter. “You’re completely insane.” He puts his hand on mine and squeezes. “I mean, who does that?”
“Be that stupid?” I ask, feeling the tension around my body melt like butter.
His laughing slows. “No, believe in something so much that they risk everything to make it happen?”
I start laughing too, so hard the tears I’ve been holding back come out. I’m laughing at how ridiculous this all is, how far
I’ve come, how I would have never thought I’d end up here.
“Hey, it’s all right.” He moves in front of me, pulling the pocket square from his jacket and using it to wipe the tears from
my flushed cheeks. It’s a gentlemanly gesture I didn’t think happened outside of historical romance books.
I shake my head. “It was a mistake, but I don’t regret it, because I got to meet you.
But I’m scared you’re going to meet the real me and change your mind.
You like Violet, not Jess. Jess is boring and serious and not fun.
I wanted to try something new, be someone new.
Someone who doesn’t have this demon on their back weighing them down all the time. ”
He takes my face in his hands, stroking his rough thumb across my cheek as he studies me, eyes soft and relaxed. He smiles.
“My attraction to you is choiceless. If you let me, I’d have you with any name. Jess, Violet, fucking Gertrude, it’s all the
same to me. You are you.” He smiles onto my lips. “But I could get used to Jess.”
I let out a teary laugh and kiss him lightly, a long exhalation of relief coursing through me. We kiss again, soft but longer
this time, slowly morphing into something more. Our tongues clash, and his arms wrap around my waist, lifting me onto the
desk. We giggle as we both realize the skirt of my dress is so tight I have to sit sidesaddle to him.
His hand runs up the silk encasing my thighs in soft, caressing strokes until I can’t take it. I slide the undone bow tie
from his collar and unbutton halfway down his shirt. My dress is too long and there’s too much fabric between us. My breath
hitches as he reads my mind, wraps his arms around me, and starts to unzip my dress, the vibration pulling down my back as
his fingers follow, smoothing over my bare skin until they hit the lace bra.
He drags me off the desk, lets my dress drop to the ground, and crouches on the floor to untangle my stilettos from the pooled fabric.
With everything going on, I forgot about my gala-worthy underwear situation.
Watching as his gaze travels back up my body, studying my matching stockings, black underwear, and bra with preternatural concentration, I cringe at the contrast between my immaculate lingerie and my messy hair and post-cry makeup, but he doesn’t seem to care.
His hands smooth over the backs of my calves, urging me back onto the desk as he parts them.
He snaps the edge of a stocking gently against my thigh. “These will make me forget both our names.” Any resolve to get out of this situation intact drifts away.
After a swell of confidence, I ask, “What about these?” And move his hand to my underwear, his fingers running along the edge
of the lace. My head droops to the side as he kisses the skin just below my navel.
“Name, location, year, everything. Nothing is as important as these.” He laughs, warm breath tickling my skin as he moves
back up my body until he reaches my lips.
I make light work of the rest of his shirt, my heart racing harder with every button until I can run my hands over the smattering
of hair across his chest, perfectly framing his toned torso. I’ve seen his body before, but this feels like the first time.
The first time we’re being honest. The first time we’re being completely ourselves. The first time we know this isn’t going
to be the only time.
I wrap my legs around him, my heels digging into his lower back and deepening the kiss. His hands smooth over my legs and
up my waist, melting me to my core. His erection is hard between us, the muscles flexing and throbbing as my tongue glides
over his.
“Sure you’re okay with this?” I ask, already out of breath as he breaks to work his mouth over my neck.
He pulls back, furrowing his brow. “Why wouldn’t I be? Got something else to confess?”
“You know everything now, but that makes you complicit.” I hold his broad shoulders, more saying this to myself than him as
the realization sinks in. “I’ve made you complicit. You should be running for the hills.”
He strokes a finger over the fabric of my underwear. “That may be the sensible thing to do, but unfortunately evil masterminds
with a penchant for reckless behavior turn me on.”
My head comes to rest in the crook of his shoulder as I shudder from his touch. “Just for the record, none of it was on purpose.”
“Well, just for the record,” he mimics in a mocking British accent, “everything I’ve done with you is completely on purpose.” As he deftly pulls the
fabric to one side and slowly dips a finger inside me, watching as my mouth opens and chin lifts, he says, “I think you just
couldn’t resist my charms.”
I laugh and moan at the same time, trying to stop my head from spinning. Trying to regain the high ground, I run my hand down
his chest until I meet his straining trousers. I slip my hand in, watching as his dark eyes glaze over. I capture his mouth
as it opens on a groan.
“Yeah, because I’m the one finding it hard to resist,” I reply. He lowers me on the desk, his muscles taut as he hovers just above my body. He runs his mouth down my
neck, breasts, and navel before straightening and checking his watch.
“Somewhere to be?” I ask, looking over my heaving chest.
He looks distressed. “Give me one second.” He sits up onto his knees, legs on either side of my hips as he pulls his phone out of his trouser pockets and starts frantically typing. The lines below his hips taut as his cock strains painfully against the fabric.
My brow furrows. “What are you doing?”
“Handing over my duties for tonight to Dom’s second assistant.” He presses the Call button and lifts the phone to his ear.
“Are you allowed to do that?” I ask, looking up at him through heavy lashes.
“Hey, man,” he says as I hear another deep voice down the receiver. “Yeah, everything’s fine.”
He smirks, giving me a mischievous look. “Can you take over for the rest of the night? There is an urgent matter I need to
deal with.” His dark eyes glide over my bra.
Electricity tingles through my body—am I the urgent matter? I sit upright, my mouth meeting his navel. His stomach muscles
jerk as I run my tongue over the trail of hair leading under his waistline.
“The car should be here in ninety minutes. Just make sure he doesn’t go AWOL this time; we don’t need a repeat of Rome.”
I look up at him sweetly, dragging his zipper down and kissing lower.
He closes his eyes for a second, sighing, then holds his hand over the receiver. “You’re making this a lot harder than it
needs to be,” he says between his teeth.
“That’s the plan,” I say, rolling down his boxers until he springs out.
“Uh-huh,” he says down the phone, his voice strained as my tongue runs up his length and across the tip before I close my
mouth over him, rolling my tongue. “Yeah, it’s scheduled for 2 p.m. tomorrow.”
After a few seconds, Oliver drags his fingers through my hair and pulls my chin up to look at me as I take him in deeper.
He bites his bottom lip and lets out a long breath. “Sorry, man, this problem just won’t solve itself. I’m probably going
to be up all night working on it.”
I stifle a laugh, my lips vibrating against him.
“Thanks, I owe you one.”
My limbs feel weightless as he hangs up and throws his phone across the room onto an armchair. The subtle gesture, even knowing
that I trust him, makes my heart somersault.
He lowers his chin to me. “You are going to pay for that.”
I playfully push myself away from him. “On second thought, maybe this isn’t a good idea. I should probably go back to my hotel
for the night and—”
“Don’t you dare.” He takes me by the waist, drops me onto my feet, and kisses me, turning us backward toward the sprawling
sofa.
I’m out of breath when I ask, “You’re free for the whole night?”
“I’m officially off the clock until 9 a.m., so we have about eight hours until I’m obliged to do anything about this . . .
situation.” He brackets over me, lowering me onto the plush royal-blue cushions.
“Wow, that’s great that you take your work-life balance so seriously,” I tease. “So we have eight hours to do whatever we
want?”
He smiles playfully. “That depends on what you want.”
My fingers lace through his hair, pulling him closer to me. “I wanted to stay, in your apartment.” I breathe out, “I wanted
this.”
“Me too. I should never have let you leave,” he grits out.
“I’m glad you did,” I say.
His brows furrows.
“I mean, I’m glad it didn’t happen when you didn’t know the truth.” I clarify.
He smiles as he climbs up my body until his cock is nudging against me. “You wanted to make sure I was calling out the right
name?”
I laugh. “Exactly.”
“Well, Jess.” He emphasizes the word like it’s a curse. “Will you let me fuck you?”
“Please.” I practically beg.
He slides against me, hard against my slickness. I feel the heat running up my body as he carefully enters me. I’m breathless
at the feeling of him inside me. After a few more torturous moments, he pounds into me, hard and deep until my vision goes
blurry. I can feel every inch of him as he slides his tip to my entrance, never quite leaving, teasing. My nails claw at his
back.
He lifts us farther up the settee until I feel the wooden edges against my back. My hands wrap around the arm, trying to stop