Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
S kye
I stretch my arms and legs as my eyes flutter open, then look around the room to see if Kingston is here. The curtain has been drawn and I can see that it's definitely morning. I look over to the clock on the nightstand and gasp when I see it's nine AM.
"Oh no," I moan, as I sit up, my hair tousled. I hear footsteps and the door opens.
Kingston steps in with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Morning, sleepyhead."
"Oh my gosh. I slept so late. I'm so sorry," I mumble quickly and he shakes his head.
"Don't be. We finished all the folders last night, so you're actually on schedule."
"I know. I just..." I yawn. "Oh my gosh. I can't believe I'm yawning and I just woke up."
"It's because we didn't get that much sleep." He grins as he sits on the edge of the bed and hands me the cup. "I wish I could say we didn't get much sleep because of all the love we were making, but I am pretty satisfied with the fact that we finished all those files.
"Thank you so much for your help." I sip on the coffee gratefully. I feel his eyes on my lips and don’t miss it when they move to my chest. I'm wearing another one of his T-shirts without a bra and I can feel that my nipples are poking through the thin material.
He licks his lips and stands up. "I think I'm going to head to the shower and then we can go into work."
"Aren't you nervous that people are going to ask questions as to why we are arriving together?"
He looks at me and shakes his head. "Why would I be nervous about that? We were working late."
"I know we were working late, but what if people think we were doing something else?"
"That's not my concern." He shrugs. "We weren't."
"Yeah, but we said we were going to keep personal personal and business business and if we show up together and I am..."
He stares at me and lets out a small sigh. ”You can go home. You can put on some fresh clothes and then come to the office when you're ready." He shrugs. "Does that make you feel better?"
I stare at him for a couple of seconds and nod. "It should make you feel better too."
"I don't care what people say about me around the office," he says. "The rule is there to keep us safe, not because I’m afraid of a little gossip." He shrugs and heads out of the room. "Let me know if you want me to make you some eggs or something for breakfast."
I shake my head as I slide out of the bed. "I'm okay. Thanks."
He looks down at my long legs and then gives me an impish grin. "Okay," he says, as he stands there looking back at me.
I'm slightly disappointed that he didn't attempt to make a move, which is what I thought he'd do. I sip the coffee and walk out of the room into the kitchen area.
"You can turn on the TV if you want," he shouts from the bathroom.
"Thank you," I say as I head into the living room.
I place the coffee cup down on the coffee table and take a seat on his luxurious couch before reaching for the remote control. I power it on and settle back into the couch. It is so comfortable. When I am rich and successful and have a place that is large enough to accommodate such a large couch, I will get one just like this. However, it may be in a different color.
I switch the channels until I find reruns of Reba and grab the coffee cup again. About ten minutes later, Kingston walks out with damp hair and a wry smile on his face as he looks at the TV.
"What is this?"
"You've never seen Reba ?" I ask, staring at him incredulously.
"Um, I can't say that it's a show I would have been interested in watching, no."
"Oh, it's so good. It's about this single mom who works two jobs who loves her kids and never stops." I laugh. "Oh my gosh. Did I just repeat the lyrics to the theme song?"
"I don't know." He shrugs. "Did you?"
"Well, I don't know. Anyway, she was married to this guy, Brock, who's a dentist, and he cheated on her with Barbara Jean, who he's now married to and they have a son, but he still has three kids with Reba. And weirdly enough, Barbara Jean, who's his mistress-turned-wife, is best friends with Reba, which is kind of weird because there's no way I would be best friends with the woman that my husband cheated on me with. But I guess Reba's living her best life now because she met this guy and?—"
He holds a hand up. "It sounds like a soap opera. Are you watching Days of Our Lives ?"
"No, goofy. I mean, it does kind of sound like it's a soap opera, but..." I shrug. "I love it. I always thought that if I made it as an actress, I'd love to star in a show like this."
"You'd love to star in a show about your husband cheating on you with your best friend?"
"No, I’m saying like a sitcom. I think I can be pretty funny and, you know."
"So is that one of your dreams then? To become a successful actress and star in your own sitcom? What would you call it, Skye?"
“No. Acting isn't the love of my life. Not like Lila. It isn't something I feel like I was born to do, you know? I enjoy it. I love going on auditions and well, if I made it, I wouldn't be unhappy. But it's not like an end goal of mine. You know? It's not like I want to see my name on a movie poster with Brad Pitt or George Clooney or Henry Cavill. Though I might not say no if it was Henry Cavill."
He grins. "Okay then. So you're telling me Henry Cavill is competition."
"He could be," I say, laughing. "So, you know what you didn't tell me?"
"What didn't I tell you?" he asks.
"You didn't tell me who's planning the first fun night next weekend."
"Oh, I figured I would unless you want to."
"No, I want you to." I grin. "That way I know just how much I need to step it up or not."
He stares at me for a couple of seconds. "Uh, step it up? Please explain.”
"If you fly me out to Paris for chocolate croissants in a little French cafe and take me shopping at Hermes and to a hotel where we make love looking at the Eiffel Tower, I'm not going to plan a picnic in my living room." I giggle. "I mean, I'm not going to plan a trip to London or Spain or anything. I don't have that kind of money, but?—"
"Skye, what are you talking about?"
"I'm just saying, if you plan a really cool date…"
"So a really cool date for you would be me flying you to Paris for chocolate croissants to make love watching the Eiffel Tower. Noted." He grins. "I'm not going to lie, that wasn't on my list of potential fun night activities, but I will keep it in mind." I laugh.
"What? You don't want to spend thousands of dollars on me just to get some?"
"I would spend thousands of dollars on you to not get some," he says softly.
I just stare at him for a couple of seconds and his lips twist and he turns away. "Anyway, I'll plan the first date. I will let you know what time to be ready."
"Also let me know what to wear," I say.
"Well, the less clothes, the better." He grins.
"No, I'm serious. Like, I need to know if I should wear strappy heels or sandals or boots or sneakers."
"Boots?" he asks.
"I don't know, like mountain hiking boots if you're going to take me on some sort of rugged adventure."
"Where in Manhattan would we be going on a rugged adventure?"
"I don't know. Maybe if you flew me to Montana or to Colorado or even to Canada."
"Why do all of the dates you're thinking of have me flying you somewhere?" he asks. "Are you hoping to travel the world with me?" He blinks. ”Are you hoping to write your next book about me?"
"Well, I've never written a book, so it wouldn't be my next book. It would be my first book. And I wanted my first book to be about my adventures around the world with the love of my life and you're not the love of my life. You're my..." I pause. ”Well, you're my boss with benefits. I think that's what I'll call you."
"I like it," he says. "So you don't want to write a book about your boss with benefits?"
"I mean, I could," I say. "Well, let's see how the first date goes first. Then I'll decide."
"Oh, so then maybe I really do need to step it up."
"What? You want to be in a book that I write?"
"I wouldn't say no unless you're an absolutely shitty writer." He laughs. "Are you a shitty writer?"
"Would I say if I was a shitty writer?" I tease him. "Who would say that? ‘Oh, I'm a shitty writer. I'm writing a book.’"
He laughs and runs his fingers through his hair. "I guess not you." He looks at me thoughtfully for a moment. "Okay, you should shower and head home so you can change and I'll meet you in the office later."
"What? You mean I can't spend the rest of my day watching TV?" I grin.
"Nope, because it's Monday morning and you're already late for work." He raises an eyebrow at me. "And you know what they say."
"No. What do they say?"
"You don't want your boss to catch you coming in late to work too many times or you might get fired."
"But I don't think my boss would fire me for that, would he?" I jump up off of the couch and turn the TV off before taking a couple of steps toward him and stopping when I’m a few inches away. He only has a white towel wrapped around his waist and I place my fingers against his chest and touch a droplet of water on his nipple. I place my finger to my lips and lick it, staring into his eyes as he looks back at me.
"Are you telling me that you do not want to go to work right now?" he asks, his eyes darkening as I reach up and wrap my hands around his neck.
"I'm not saying that," I say softly as I stand on tippy-toes and press my lips against his.
He reaches down and grabs me around the waist and I feel his pink is sliding down into my panties and pinching my ass. I moan slightly as I press myself against him. He lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist as he pushes me up against the corridor wall and I feel his lips against my neck.
"What are you hoping will happen right now?" he asks as his lips move to mine.
"Not much," I say as I run my fingers through his hair and kiss him.
I feel his tongue slipping into my mouth and I hold on to him for dear life as he gyrates against me. I feel his towel fall down to the floor and the length of his hardness presses up against my panties. I moan against his lips as he reaches one hand up under my T-shirt and plays with one of my breasts.
"Fuck, I don't want to go into work," he says as he rubs his hardness against my panties.
I swallow hard as my fingers run down his neck and squeeze his shoulders.
"I know," I say, staring into his eyes as he takes a step back and lets me down.
He pulls my T-shirt off and it drops to the ground, leaving me standing there in just my panties next to his very naked and hard body. He pushes me up against the wall and leans down to kiss me again, his chest pressed up against my breasts as he runs his fingers up and down the side of my body. I run my fingers all the way down his back and squeeze his buttocks and moan as we stand there caressing each other.
In the distance, I hear a faint beeping and let out a small little sigh as he steps back and curses under his breath.
"One second," he says as he strolls to his bedroom and grabs his phone and answers it. "Hey, what's going on?" He snaps into the phone, and I wonder who he's talking to. "Yeah, Max. I'll be there soon. I didn't forget." He rolls his eyes as he stares at me.
I walk over to him with a wicked little smile and he looks down at me with curious eyes. I drop to my knees and look up at him.
"I think that I can get that paperwork done by..." He pauses as my lips touch the tip of his cock. His eyes widen and I wink before I open my mouth wider to swallow him.
"Uh, Max, can I call you..." He pauses as he reaches down and runs his fingers through my hair. "Look, I'll be back in a moment," he says, and drops the phone to the floor.
He looks down at me with humor in his eyes. "What are you doing?"
"What do you think?" I say as I look up at him and grin.
I swallow him yet again, my head bobbing back and forth as I try to take him deep into my mouth. He groans as he holds onto my hair and I feel him getting harder and harder, his body stiffening as I suck his glorious, salty cock. I know when he's about to cum because he stills completely. I don't stop. Instead, I suck on his tip and gently run my fingers under his balls and squeeze.
"Oh, fuck," he says as he pulls out slightly and then slams his cock into my mouth.
I feel him spurting his thick cum and I swallow fast, licking my lips dry as he finally finishes.
I stand up and stare into his face, giving him a quick kiss on the lips.
"I think it's time for you to go to work," I say. "Try not to think of me too much."
He looks befuddled, dazed and confused, and I grin as I head into the bathroom and close the door behind me. Holy shit, I think as I stand here recalling what I’ve just done. I had never done something like that before in my life, and yet it was one of the hottest moments I can remember having.
"I just love Girls’ Night." Elisabetta says as we dance in sync as we walk down the street.
"You sound like you're in a good mood." I say, looking at her in surprise. The last few times we’d hung out, she’d been slightly down and I was happy that we were going to have some fun, just the two of us.
"I am. I mean, I'm young, I'm single, I have the best, best friend in the world, and tonight we're going dancing. What more could I ask for?"
"Yeah, I love you too, and I'm excited to dance, though let's make a rule."
"What's the rule?" She asks, groaning.
"No hooking up in bathrooms with random men."
"Okay, I can promise that." She grins. "I'm surprised that your hot boss allowed you to go dancing with me tonight."
"Excuse me? What's that supposed to mean?"
"He seems pretty possessive of you, and I'm sure if he saw you right now in that slinky silver dress, he would want you to be over at his place."
"Maybe, I guess, but like I told you, we have an arrangement."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. How long is that going to last?"
"I don't know, but we'll see."
"I just never expected my best friend to be boinking her boss."
"Really, Elisabetta?"
"What? I'm just saying. I didn't see you as a Fifty Shades of Grey sort of girl."
"I'm not in a Fifty Shades of Grey relationship. He doesn't whip me, he doesn't tie me up. Okay, that's a lie. He's definitely tied me up."
"Ooh, la, la. Skye's a dirty bitch."
"Shush." I say, laughing as we walk past two guys who stare at us with eager glances. "You don't want to give anyone any ideas."
"No, you only want to give your hot boss ideas."
"Are you jealous?" I ask her, joking.
"I'm not going to lie, he's fucking hot, and I would be lying if I said he wasn't. I would be lying if I were to say I wouldn't also enter into a sexual relationship with him if he asked me." She winks at me. "So you do you, girl."
"I am going to. And thank you so much for buying me this Fuji max camera and these rolls of film, that was so thoughtful of you."
"Well, I wanted to thank you again for rescuing me that night from Radium and not judging me for the craziness that went down. Plus, if you're going to do a selfie business and charge money, I really don't think you can use people's phones. They can grab their phone and go running and not pay you. This way, if they want to get the cute little snap you take of them, then they have to pay."
"I know. This is why you are so brilliant."
"Girl, I'm not brilliant because I thought it was a good idea to buy you a Polaroid camera and take photos."
"Yeah, you are."
"You thought of it too," she says.
"Yeah, but I didn't have the money to spend on it." I motion to my handbag.
"So what's going on with Whittaker Matlock?" she asks. "Did he ever come into the office or...?"
"He keeps making appointments, but he hasn't yet come." I shrug. "Kingston hasn't said anything about it, but I can tell that he gets a little bit aggravated every time I let him know that Whittaker's business manager has contacted to reschedule."
"Yikes. Do you think that's a bad sign?"
"All I know is that Kingston said at least he's not canceling the appointment."
"Oh, I like a guy that thinks that the glass is half full and not half empty," she says with a nod. "To be honest, when you told me what went down that night, I was shocked that Whittaker even made an appointment."
"Me too," I say. "But I'm just the assistant, I don't really know how this sort of business goes."
"Yeah, and I don't think I want to know," she says. "Let's think about fun things."
"Okay. Like what?"
"Like are you going to buy some sexy lingerie for the next time you're with Kingston?"
"Oh my gosh. I'm not talking about Kingston anymore tonight."
”Why not? He's such a fun topic of conversation."
"I feel like I talk about him all the time. And no, I'm not going to buy lingerie just to have sex with him. He would just rip it up and there would go my money."
"But didn't he say he wanted to give you a credit card?"
"He suggested it, but I'm not going to use his credit card to buy lingerie for him to rip up, it's a waste of money."
"You're far too practical, Skye, you do realize this? If you're in a love affair like this, you've just got to go with the flow, roll with the punches. Shit, if he wants to pour $10,000 champagne on your ass crack and lick it up, let him."
"I don't think we should be talking about ass cracks right now," I say, giggling.
"Hey, that should be my joke." She laughs. "But you're right. I'd much rather he drank $10,000 champagne from your you know what."
I blush as she winks at me. "Elisabetta, we're going out to dance and get our flirt on with random hot men in the city. We're not going to talk about my hot boss, who may or may not make me come in a million different ways, because I do not want to think about him tonight. I do not want to think about him at all.
"You like him though, right?"
"It's just so complicated. I don't even know what's really going on. I don't even know how I feel about him. Some days I hate him, some days I..." I pause. "Like him a lot."
"You kind of love him some days too, don't you?"
I glare at her. "I'm not even responding to that. I just know that this is a situation where I do not feel like I know the ins and outs completely because it's so fluidly changing. Sometimes when I'm with him, I feel like the Earth is moving."
"That's what she said." She giggles, and I just glare at her. "Sorry. You know I had a couple of vodka shots before we left."
"I know. It's just weird, you know? I just don't even know him. Sometimes he seems like he's all about the money and will do anything to make as much money as possible, and then other times he seems like he really cares about people and my feelings and doing what's morally right."
"He's not the devil. He is not a psychopath, right? He does care about good and bad, right?"
"Yeah. I mean, do I think he's evil? No. Do I think he can be a jackass sometimes? Yes. Do I enjoy him being a jackass sometimes? Yeah. I don't think he's like the snake trying to make me eat the poison apple or anything, I just think that it's complicated on both our ends. It makes my brain hurt to think about it."
"Your brain's not thinking about it when he is inside of you though."
"Really?"
"What? You said he's great sex."
"He is great sex, and that's why it makes it so hard. Do not say, 'That's what she said' again."
"That's what she said," she says under her breath, and we both start laughing. "So are you going to see him tonight or…?"
"No, it's not our scheduled night, thank you very much."
I'm grateful when we arrive outside the nightclub.
"So let's get some drinks and just dance. Are you going to take pictures before or after or..."
"Actually, look at those girls over there," I say, nodding at two girls taking selfies in front of the sign.
"Go on, girl, go."
"Okay." I say. "Sorry, I don't want to hold us up."
"Just go, Skye."
I run over to the two girls who are giggling and taking a selfie.
"Hi. How are you doing tonight?"
They look up at me suspiciously. "We're fine. Why, what's going on?"
"My name is Skye and I am an official photographer."
"You what?" They stare at me. "What are you talking about?"
“To be clear, I’m not an official photographer. I am an unofficial official photographer of the night." I grin at them.
"Sorry, what are you talking about? What does that mean?"
"I saw you girls were trying to take a selfie, and I wanted to offer my services."
"What services? Where's your camera? Are you paparazzi?" The girl with the blonde hair says. "Because I'm not going to talk about what went down with me and Tennessee River last week."
"Sorry, what?" I blink at her. I'm the one that's confused now.
"You probably saw me on TMZ, but I am not a groupie. I did not have sexual relations with that man," she says, laughing.
Her friend collapses in laughter. "You're too funny, Eastern.”
I stare at them both trying not to roll my eyes.
Idiots.
"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about, I don't read TMZ and I've never heard of Tennessee River, but I am a photographer, and if you girls want a cute shot"—I hold up the small little camera in my hand—"I can take one for you, and I have little Polaroids so I can give it to you to keep as a keepsake."
"Oh, I see." Eastern says, blinking. "You want to take a photo of us, what, for the New York Times?"
"No." I say, shaking my head. "I don't work for the New York Times, and I very much doubt they would want to publish my Polaroid pictures in their paper."
"So the New York Post? Tacky."
"No. I'm not sure if you understood what I said. I am an unofficial official photographer of the night, meaning that?—"
"I don't really understand what this girl is saying, do you?" the blonde asks her friend.
The friend shakes her head.
"I can take a selfie for you."
"No, we don't want you in our selfie, we don't know you. Oh my gosh. I can't stand these claim-to-fame whores."
"What?" My jaw drops.
"You recognized me, and now you want a photo with me so you can post on your socials that you know me. But you don't know me just because you saw me on the street. I don't know you, I don't want to be on your Instagram account. How many followers do you even have, ten?"
"No, I actually have like 105 followers on Instagram."
"Oh, 105, so many." The girls laugh. "Be gone."
I stare at them and blink. "What did you just say to me?"
"I said be gone, paparazzi."
I look around and shrug before heading back over to Elisabetta, who's standing next to the wall, typing something on her phone.
"Hey, how did it go? How much did they pay you?"
"I didn't even get to take a photo." I say, shaking my head.
"What? What do you mean?"
"I went to offer my services and they thought I was the paparazzi."
"The paparazzi, what? Who is it? Don't tell me that's Gigi Hadid or something."
"Girl, I've never seen those two nobodies before in my life," I say, laughing. "One of them was going on about how she slept with Tennessee River. Have you ever heard of anyone called Tennessee River?"
"Never before in my life," she says, giggling. "Are you sure they weren't joking?"
"I am absolutely positive they weren't joking. I am still kind of confused as to what just happened." I burst out laughing. "Am I living in an alternate reality here? What the fuck was that?"
"I don't know, but don't let them discourage you, girl. I'm sure there are plenty of people that want you to take random-ass Polaroid photos of them and are willing to pay $20 each." She laughs lightly.
"Elisabetta."
"What?" she says, holding up her hand. "I did tell you I didn't think it was the best idea in the world."
"What are you saying?"
"I mean, I don't think I'm being unclear, Skye. Like I said, I don't think it's the best idea in the world. I don't think you're going to make much money from this.
I stare at her for a couple of seconds and giggle.
"You know what? I think you're right. I don't think it's my best money-making idea that I've ever had."
"Me either," she says.
"Then why did you buy me this camera and all this film?"
"Well, we can take selfies of ourselves," she says, grinning. "Plus, I wanted to be supportive."
"You bought me a camera and film even though you didn't believe in the idea?"
"But I believe in you," she says, grinning. "I think you can do anything you set your mind to."
"Why are you so sweet and nice to me, and why do you encourage me on stupidness?"
"Because that's what best friends do. I'm not going to let you walk across a train track when a train is coming, because I don't want you to die, but I will let you have different money-making ideas and run with it until you realize they're not the best."
"Thank you," I say. "I appreciate it."
"That's kind of why I'm letting you have your fun with you know who."
I just blink at her. "I told you, we're not talking about him tonight."
"I know, but I'm just saying. Do I think it's the best idea that you've ever had? Do I think there's potential for your heart to be broken?" I just stare at her, and she links her arm through mine. "But that's life. We miss a hundred percent of the chances we don't take. Maybe it's also going to be amazing. Maybe he's going to be the one that makes you rethink your entire being."
"I don't know that I want someone to make me rethink my entire being," I say to her. "I mean, I'm pretty set on what I want from life."
"I know,” she says. "You want to travel, you want the love of your life, and you want to write a book about your epic love story."
"Yeah. Those are the goals. I'm not that close to them, but?—"
"But you're closer than you were last week, right?"
I nod slowly. "Yeah. Shall we go in and dance?"
"Let's do it." She says. "And you know what?"
"What?"
"I'm going to give you $100."
"What? Why are you giving me $100?"
"Because I would like at least five amazing photographs of myself tonight."
"What? You can't pay me to?—"
"That's how much you charge per photo, right? $20?"
"Yeah, but?—"
"So five amazing photos is $100."
"You bought the camera and the film. I am not?—"
"I'm your best friend and my dad is loaded. Please let me support you, even if I'm your only customer of the night."
I reach out and give her a big hug and kiss her on the side of the face.
"You're the best friend I could have ever asked for. You know that, right?"
"I learned from the best," she says, pinching me on the ass. "Now, come on, let's get inside and dance and get our flirt on."
"Okay," I say, laughing. "Let's do it."