10. Cooper
TEN
Cooper
S he doesn’t respond for the longest time and I start to wonder if she’s fallen asleep before her husky voice cuts through the silence filling the room.
“There isn’t much to talk about. We agreed that we would remain professional.”
“I beg to differ. There still seems to be a giant elephant in the room. It’s all well and good having a five minute conversation, but it’s not really resolved anything.”
She releases an audible sigh, as if I’m irritating her by bringing it up again. Maybe she’s been able to move past what happened and I’m nothing but a distant memory, but I’m struggling to forget.
I hear her moving around in her bed before I see her figure sit up, turning to look over at me. A sliver of moonlight shines upon her and casts a soft glow over her features. I interlock my fingers together, placing them behind my head, as I feign nonchalance.
Anything to stop from climbing from my bed and claiming her mouth with my own.
With a hint of annoyance in her tone, she asks, “What do you mean?”
I release a breath, preparing to be open and honest with her.
No matter what her response may be. “I still find you attractive.” She doesn’t speak, so I continue, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to act on it.
I agree, we need to be professional and I don't want to cross that line again, but I can’t have you flirting with my clients like you did tonight. ”
With a resigned sigh, she says, “No matter how either of us feels, we crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed.
If you can’t handle me being my normal friendly self with clients, then maybe I should resign.
” Her words come out strong and sure, catching me off guard before she powers on.
“It’s not what I wanted because I love my job, but if we can’t move past it, I’m not sure I will have any other choice.
And while we’re on the subject of remaining professional, you also don’t get to be jealous if I do want to flirt with other men. ”
A knot forms in my stomach at her threat to leave. Ignoring it, I grit my teeth and utter words that don’t strip me bare, because I’ve already been too honest with her tonight. “You can flirt with whoever you want to, just not on my dime.”
“It… we won’t happen again,” she assures me after a lengthy pause.
“I know.”
I try to keep the resignation and disappointment at this realization out of my voice. I’m not sure I succeed as she looks at me in the darkness for a moment. When she nods and lies back down, turning her back to me, I release the breath I’d been holding.
I lay awake until the sunrises before giving up and going for a run along the beach. The slightly warmer Miami weather does nothing to relieve my mood. My beach morning was spent wondering what she was up to as I answered emails on my phone, unable to take a break from work even for a few hours.
I’m reunited with her that afternoon, and for her at least, everything seems to be back to normal, whereas I spend the remainder of our time in Miami trying to ignore the way she makes me feel.
For the past two weeks since we returned from Miami, Meghan has continued to occupy my thoughts. No matter how much I tell myself that she wants nothing to do with me, or how many times I tell myself I can’t have her, my mind just won’t let it go.
It won’t let her go.
Leaning back in my chair, I stare out at the Manhattan skyline as I indulge myself with replays of the Christmas party—after all, it’s the only time I’ll get to have her.
Despite her kissing me first, I’d been the one to take it a step further.
We could have left it at two kisses, but one taste, no matter how brief, has snapped something inside of me and I haven’t had enough self-control to stop myself.
I couldn’t resist her.
I’d wanted her for so long, and at that moment she’d wanted me too.
When she’d brought her leg up and wrapped it around my waist, grinding herself into my already painfully hard cock, I knew I was going to take her home.
When I slipped my hand between us and I found her bare and soaked for me, I’d barely resisted the urge to drop to my knees and devour her against the wall.
I should be grateful that she wants to forget about it, that her immediate thought wasn’t to report me to HR or quit her job . Instead, I’m not grateful. I’m frustrated that she’s stopped anything more from happening.
I can’t have anything more happen.
So why am I so worked up over the fact that she wants what I should want?
Christ, Cooper. Get it together.
Today she’s wearing a corduroy shirt that comes to mid-thigh, an oversized sweater and thick wool tights.
It’s a simple outfit, definitely not sexy, but I want nothing more than to call her into my office and tell her to strip out of her clothes.
To bend her over my desk and make her squirm as I devour her.
Once wasn’t enough.
Looking out of my window at the view of the city, I contemplate my next step.
I can’t carry on like this.
I’ve always been able to plan out a course of action; it’s what has made me so successful as an attorney. Right now, though, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to get her out of my mind. I’ve never been one to become obsessed with a woman, but that’s exactly what she is—an obsession.
I know I could call Vivian, or any other woman, but the thought of being with anyone else doesn’t turn me on. Not like she does.
I crave Meghan.
Letting out a sign of frustration, I press the intercom button on my desk to call her.
“How can I help, Mr. Jackson?” Her soft, breathy tones float down the line and straight to my cock causing it to twitch. Shifting in my seat, I swallow the sudden ball in my throat.
“I need you to stay late tonight, Meghan. I’m going to need your help to sort out the Dexter files.” I pray that my tone comes across as authoritative but professional. It’s not like this is the first night we’d have to work together after hours.
“Of course, Mr. Jackson. Shall I order dinner?”
“Please. Maybe Yang’s around the corner,” I suggest .
“Yes, Mr. Jackson,” Meghan responds, completely unaffected, before she disconnects the call.
I go back to staring out of my window until Meghan knocks on my door with the files we need to prepare for court next week.
There are documents strewn across the large table in the boardroom.
It’s long since gone dark outside and the office has cleared out.
We have most of the files ready by the time the food arrives and so we eat in relative silence, with Meghan occasionally providing me updates on things she’s been working on this week.
I know I’m being unusually quiet, but being this close to her is torture even as I do my best to respect the boundaries she’s clearly put in place.
Having finished eating, Meghan clears away the takeout boxes as I stand over the documents, reviewing the file order.
With the food cleared away, she moves next to me. Her sweet perfume fills my nostrils and the words on the page in front of me blur with my effort to remain focused.
I must not touch her.
I reach over to point to a slip of paper.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to ask Meghan to hand it to me, but as my hand brushes her arm, I hear her breath hitch.
I move to pull away, but she turns to face me at the same time that I turn to her, an apology forming on my tongue.
Her eyes have darkened with an unmistakable desire that most likely matches my own.
I don’t know who moves first, but before I know it, the silky strands of her ponytail are wrapped around my hand, and our mouths are fused in an almost punishing kiss.
She tenses for the briefest of moments and just as I’m about to pull away thinking she’s changed her mind, she kisses me back, more than matching my desperation.
Using her hair to tilt her head back and expose her neck, I leave the paradise that is her mouth and trail kisses and nips down the column of her throat.
She lets out little mewls of pleasure, urging me on.
An overwhelming urge overtakes me and I find myself sucking on the sensitive skin of her neck.
Marking her as mine.
“Cooper,” she pleads.
I don’t stop, not until a faint bruise appears on the pale skin of her throat. I haven’t given a woman a hickey since I was in high school.
Briefly, because I can’t keep my hands and mouth off of her for long, I admire my handiwork before I return to her mouth, my tongue tangling with hers.
My hand leaves her hair, as I slide them both down to rest on her hips before smoothing further down and under her ass. Grabbing a cheek in each hand, I press my pelvis into her stomach, grinding my hips into her softness, causing her to let out a low moan.
I want to be buried in her .
So deep that we don’t know where I end and she begins.
Releasing her ass, I move my hands to the hem of her skirt, dragging it up until it’s over her hips, sitting bunched around her waist.
Reluctantly breaking contact with her lips, I look down at her, my gaze roaming over every inch of her.
The raggedness of her breaths match my own.
Pulling down her tights and panties, I help her step out of them before returning to her mouth and backing her up to the table.
She shoves the papers out of the way, causing most of them to flutter to the floor as I lift her onto the edge.
Our movements are rushed, a sense of urgency taking over us as we try to satisfy our hunger for each other.
In this moment, I don’t give a fuck about the documents. My only thoughts are that I’m going to get another taste of her, and that she wants this as much as I do.