33. Oliver
Oliver
Lissa’s body is pressed against the freezing wall in front of me, my hands on her thighs, cock still inside her, as I try to reconcile what has just happened.
What the fuck was I thinking? This is unacceptable. Am I an animal for fuck’s sake?
“I’m sorry,” I say quickly, pulling back from her a little as she blinks up at me, flushed and beautiful, the snow melting on her eyelashes. “God, let me help you…”
I can’t finish the sentence, looking at the wreck of her panties that I literally ripped off her body with my bare hands.
She’s dazed as she slides down the wall, and I quickly lift her away from it as I gently pull out of her. Her hands move down to her skirt, tugging at her coat, as I shield her from any prying eyes who might look down the alley at us.
I can’t believe what I’ve done. I just fucked her up against a wall, without a condom for the first time, five minutes after her date with another man. Not to mention the fact that I’m a respected, well-known lawyer in this city; if anyone were to see me, my career would be over.
I have lost my fucking mind.
She pulls at her clothes as I get myself under control, pushing my cock back inside my pants and berating myself for being so stupid, so impulsive, and so feral.
I couldn’t keep my hands off her. The need to claim her, to make her my own, was overwhelming. I’m not proud of it, and I watch her now, wondering what she’s thinking.
“I’m sorry,” I say again, “I shouldn’t have?—”
“No, you shouldn’t have,” she says sternly, her eyes flashing at me. “Why are you here, anyway?”
“I was walking by the restaurant and saw you and Noah together.”
“So you waited outside for me to finish my date so you could jump me?” she asks, putting her hands on her hips and looking more authoritative than I’ve ever seen her.
“Uh. That wasn’t my intention.”
“Then, what was your intention?”
“To talk to you.”
“Great. How did that go?” she asks sarcastically.
“I shouldn’t have done that, Lissa,” I say firmly. “I’m so sorry.”
She huffs irritably, blowing her hair out of her eyes as her breath billows out around us in a cloud.
“What did you do to my underwear, you brute?” she hisses. “They’re ripped in two.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again, but to my astonishment, there’s amusement in her eyes now.
“I cannot believe you just did that,” she says, smoothing her hair back. She gives me another incredulous look, but there’s still humor in her eyes.
“I know. I swear I’ll make it up to you.”
“Well, to start with, you can escort me out of this alley.”
I do just that, heading to the end of the alley to check if the coast is clear, and that there are no onlookers with cameras.
But everyone on the main street has their heads down against the cold. The snow is thicker now, coming down in huge flakes.
Lissa emerges from the alley, immediately looking for a cab, but I shake my head, holding her back as I see red and blue flashing lights on the main road.
“That doesn’t look good,” I say as she stares ahead of me at the sight of another crash. That one is worse, shattered glass from the windshield scattered at the top of the street. “Do you have far to go?” I ask.
“Not really. It’s about a five-block walk.”
“Alright, I propose we walk then. It’s the safest way to go with all this snow.”
“We?” she asks incredulously, her eyebrows raising. She’s flushed, her lips red, mascara a little smudged, and it takes all my strength not to drag her back into the alley for round two.
“Yes, ‘we’. I’m not leaving you out here alone like your pitiful excuse for a date just did.” I clench my jaw as a little smile spreads over her face.
“I’ve never seen you jealous before.”
“I’m not jealous.”
“Uh-huh,” she says, with an infuriating little quirk of her lips, and begins to walk ahead of me.
She reaches the end of the street and turns right, and I fall into step beside her. It really is bitterly cold now, the snow settling on our shoulders as we walk. Lissa doesn’t have a heavy enough coat on and is visibly shivering.
“Wait here,” I say suddenly as we pass one of the little street vendors that cater to tourists. I go up to him, buy an NYC knit hat, then go back to her and hand it over. “You’re freezing; please wear it.”
Lissa laughs at it, but she puts it on her head, looking adorable with the little pompom on top. We continue walking up the street, horns a constant cacophony as we go, the traffic getting worse with the accident behind us.
Eventually, we head down a quieter street as Lissa gets out her phone and checks Google Maps.
“Have you been here before?” I ask.
“Many times, but I’ve got a horrible sense of direction. Are we heading for the pin?” She hands me the phone, and I double-check it.
“Yes. But that’s a lot less than five blocks; we should almost be there.”
“Really?” she asks, frowning up at me. “It says twelve minutes.”
“By car. By foot, we’re almost there.”
“Oh, thank god, it’s freezing.” She hesitates, glancing at me. “You can go now, if you need to,” she says, but the pause in her voice makes me think that maybe she wants me to stay.
I’m desperate to remain with her for as long as possible, and I hand back her phone, putting my hands in my coat.
“I don’t have anywhere I need to be. Is this where you live?”
“Uh. No. Just picking up Henry.”
“Gotcha.”
She rolls her eyes with a little smile as we reach a smart apartment block, with beautiful evergreens in the front covered in snow. Lissa presses a button for the fourth floor, and a face appears on a blue video screen, squinting at her.
“Who is that with you?” a voice says through the speaker.
“Uh… my boss,” Lissa says sheepishly, and there’s an audible sigh from the other end as the buzzer goes off.
We take the elevator up to her friend’s floor in silence, but I can tell Lissa wants to say something by the way she keeps fidgeting.
“What is it? Do you not want me to see Henry again?” I ask.
“No! No, not that, just… He’s with a friend of mine. Bethany. She’s another one of the EAs at Sterling.” She doesn’t say anything for a few seconds, shifting her weight. “She’s a lot taller and prettier than me.”
“Is she?” I ask mockingly. “Well, I’m not planning to cheat on you tonight, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
Whoa, wait. Cheat on her? Shit. Lissa is not my girlfriend.
She stares at me, her mouth hanging open, but before I can correct myself, the elevator dings and she steps out into a long white hallway, where a willowy brunette is waiting for us by her door.
She looks at me with an assessing and extremely judgmental gaze.
“How is it that you two ended up together?” Bethany asks without preamble. “Were you secretly on a date with him or something?”
I don’t like her tone, spearing her with an assessing gaze of my own as I tug at my coat, dislodging some snowflakes still clinging to it.
I opt for the high road though, and offer her my hand. “Oliver Heath. Nice to meet you.”
She narrows her eyes at me but shakes my hand. “I’m Bethany. One of Lissa’s most protective friends.”
“There was a car crash, and I saw her across the street,” I say firmly. “I just wanted to make sure she got home okay.”
Bethany opens the door a little wider for us to enter. Her apartment is beautiful, sleek, and exquisitely furnished.
“He’s asleep,” Bethany says, smiling at Lissa. “Tuckered out half an hour in. But he ate a sandwich and two hot dogs before he fell asleep.”
Henry looks tiny, curled up on the sofa, his blond hair tumbling over his face.
“I’m calling you a cab,” Bethany says, and my stomach lurches.
“It’s alright, I’ll get them both home.”
Bethany turns to me, her eyes wary as she glances at Lissa. “I didn’t know her job required overtime hours.”
Wow, that’s bold.
“Bethany,” Lissa hisses softly.
“Running into each other was totally random,” I insist. “But I want to make sure she gets home safely.”
Bethany crosses her arms over her chest and huffs at Lissa as she comes back over to us, holding Henry in her arms. I take the bag hanging from her hand and the blanket she’s carrying, putting them over my shoulder. Bethany is watching me now, a frown on her face.
“Okay, well, I guess you’re heading home with your boss then,” she says, sounding bewildered. “Can you call me when you’re back safely, please? Are you sure you don’t want to just stay here?”
Lissa shakes her head. “No. I know you have an early start.”
“Message me when you get home,” Bethany says again, giving Lissa a long stare as Lissa’s ears turn pink. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Heath. I’ve certainly heard a lot about you.”
My eyes meet hers.
Yes, I imagine she knows all about me.
“It was nice to meet you too, Bethany.”
We walk out of the apartment toward the elevator, a plan forming in my mind that I know I should forget about and delete from my head. But as I look at Henry’s vulnerable little body, curled up in his mother’s arms and the snow falling so heavily outside, I can’t help myself.
“Come back to my place,” I blurt out. “Stay with me. It’s close by, and you’ll be better off not traveling back to your place in this storm.”
She looks at me, seemingly confused. Henry grumbles, shivering a little, and I place the blanket over his shoulders. She looks at my hands resting against her son’s back and then bites her lip.
“It’s close?”
“Very,” I say, relief filling my whole body as we step into the elevator.