7. Graham
GRAHAM
D ays go by, and I don’t hear from Maddie.
I suppose I’didn't expect to hear from her. There’s a possibility that by the end of the month she may be in need of another…deal. But likely she’ll have found work and given our encounters, she may avoid me.
It’s unsettling how much that bothers me and how often I think of her and wonder if when the clock strikes midnight, she’ll call. The one thing I’m sure of is that she hasn’t moved out. Not that I’m stalking her, but I am aware of her comings and goings from the security cameras.
I check them throughout the day as it stands, so I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary. I’m making sure my residents and my building are both safe and protected.
The third time I check this morning, I find her. I lean back in my seat, holding the cup of black coffee and watch her gorgeous curves sway as she walks. She’s so fucking beautiful. How I wasn’t obsessed with her for the entirety of her residence here is beyond me.
She heads out of the building at a quarter after eight, wearing a skirt suit that makes me instantly hard at my desk. Maddie leaves with her hair swept back into a bun and her head held high, looking confident and beautiful.
She also carries a powder blue work tote that appears to be large enough for a laptop. The uneasiness that settles at the thought of Madelyn acquiring a job is once again unsettling. It’s certainly good for her for a number of reasons to be busy with work and to have an income.
Yet…I find myself at a loss.
I’m far too aware that I don’t know what job she got, where she’s going, or who she’s working for. Clearing my throat, I rock back in my seat, contemplating the possibilities.
I ignore the urge to station myself in the lobby of the building just for the chance to run into her. The things I want to say aren’t appropriate for the arrangement we have.
The arrangement we had . I don’t think, if my instincts are correct and she’s now employed, that Maddie needs anything else from me. Look at her, with every single strand of her hair in place, her perfect, pert body, and the spring in her step that says she’s got everything under control.
Once she’s gone, I turn the monitor off and go back to the tasks at hand, attempting to ignore thoughts of her throughout the day.
Coffee comes and goes as do emails. The clock ticks by seemingly slower than it should.
Every so often, I imagine Maddie on my desk, her legs spread as they were in her kitchen, and I groan with frustration and have a hardened cock that aches to be inside her again.
It’s impossible for the hours to tick by without thoughts of her.
Right around five, she comes back from the office the same way, only a little more satisfied, like she made the day hers.
That’s what she did. I’m sure of it. I should be glad for her and that’s what I tell myself, that I’m glad she has found a way out of the trouble she was in.
A week passes, and then another, and I don’t get any other calls about broken windows or being short on rent money that’s due any day.
I try not to look for her on the cameras, but my little seductress has a routine now.
She leaves for work at the same time every day, and most days, she comes home at the same time, unless she goes out with friends.
On the weekend, she goes to a yoga class with a slightly older woman who has a ring on her finger and smiles at Maddie like they’re close friends.
I hate that I can’t let go of thoughts of her unless I’m buried in work.
I hate that I feel compelled to initiate a new arrangement with her, but I’m unsure of what exactly it would entail and whether or not she would be interested.
I need to ensure the proposal is tempting for her. As tempting as she is to me.
I watch her leave on the screen and then I focus on the business deal sitting in my email, instead of occupying more time with thoughts of a woman who doesn’t appear to be thinking of me.
Immediately, I’m agitated and turn from my computer to face the office windows, watching the cars stories below drive past.
Harland Porter is a pain in my ass. He wants to talk about different details every day in no pattern that I can figure out.
Every conversation we have makes it tempting as hell to walk away, which only makes me dig my heels in deeper.
I can outlast a nervous asshole like Harland Porter.
I can grow my empire by one more building. I can have anything I want.
Except Maddie.
To hell with dwelling on her. I’m not going to lose my mind over the fact that she hasn’t called, even if it’s getting harder to sleep at night. When I do sleep, I dream about her—the way she bent over the furniture, the way she wrapped her legs around me in the kitchen, the way her mouth felt.
The dreams aren’t as good as the real thing.
I’m thinking about the real thing again near the end of the month, my cock hard and my teeth gritted, when there’s a knock at my office door.
Annoyance grows. I’m not to be disturbed and the office is aware.
Before I can turn around, a feminine and soothing voice says, “Hi, Graham.”
It’s her.
Adrenaline courses through me and I do everything I can not to show a change in demeanor.
As I turn and catch sight of her, I’m forced to slightly readjust myself.
A cream-colored lace dress that appears youthful and springish, but also luxurious and even bridal, clings to her as she stands in the threshold.
She could be a bride getting married at city hall in one of those ceremonies they feature in the Lifestyle section.
The sight does something to my lungs. I suck the air from them as a stray strand of hair falls in front of her face, and I’m forced to meet her gorgeous gaze.
“Madelyn,” I greet her and with her name on my lips, my cock twitches.
She bites her lip, glancing over the office and breaking our heated gaze. “Your secretary wasn’t here, so I showed myself in. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course. Come in.” I gesture to the seat across my desk and take my seat. “Is this about another arrangement?” I ask her and her wide eyes look back at me. I’ve never felt more on edge as she nods slowly.
“Close the door and lock it.” I answer and she obeys. Fuck, I’m harder than I could imagine. It’s almost like a game…or like a dream.
Maddie closes the door behind her, her hand hesitates, and then flips the lock. The sound is sinful, and it elicits a raw and desperate need stirring inside of me. Almost like a hunter to a prey, but this prey is coming to me. Fuck, I wish she’d crawl to me.
I almost request it, but I don’t want to push my luck.
“Have a seat,” I offer and I’m surprised by her response.
She shakes her head, then crosses the room to me in graceful, confident steps. Within seconds she’s close enough that I could wrap her in my arms if I wanted. My heart pounds at the doe eyes staring down at me, her heart-shaped lips, and her body in that dress.
“What’s this about, Madelyn?” I cross my arms over my chest to keep from touching her. I won’t touch her unless she asks. Maybe not until she begs. “It’s time to pay the rent again,” I state the obvious.
“It is,” she murmurs softly. I can practically hear her heart pounding and for a moment I’m taken aback. Speechless. That’s not what I thought she’d say at all. Not given she’s employed, but perhaps she isn’t.
“And you need…an extension? Or…what exactly?”
“I don’t want to use you for money,” she says and her voice wavers. She swallows thickly and the tension between us heats. “But I liked what we did,” she whispers as if it’s a confession.
“We can keep doing what we’ve been doing,” I offer, and I love the very thought of it.
“I thought maybe…it could be…” She swallows thickly, barely able to keep my gaze. “It doesn’t have to be about the money,” she suggests, and lifts a hand to trace one of the buttons on my shirt.
“I don’t want your money, I want you available to me,” I tell her, and I’ve never felt more needy—more greedy—in my fucking life.
I want her on her knees sucking my cock.
I can already envision those hollowed cheeks.
I want her spread on my desk so I can toy with her pretty pink pussy.
I want to go home after a long day and fuck her on the edge of her sofa until she screams my name and comes on my cock.
“Available whenever I like, and you can have whatever you’d like,” I offer, although I second guess how exactly I’ve presented the deal.
I bite my tongue, thinking perhaps a contract should be drawn up. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.
“That seems like it could end badly for me.” Her doe eyes shine with nothing but vulnerability.
“It could for myself as well,” I counter. It could be a disaster, if everything goes to shit because I can’t keep my mind off her...and my hands.
And I can’t. It’s been too long, and I can’t stop myself from touching her. I work my fingers through her hair and tip her face up. Maddie blinks like she’s on the edge of pleasure already.
“Why did you come here?” I ask her bluntly. As she attempts to take a half step back, I wrap my hand around her thigh, worried my tone may have been too blunt. “I’m glad you did.”
“I just needed a one-week extension, but also…I missed you.” I love the way she says she missed me. I have her where I want her, but my head is fogged with nothing but desire. I can barely think straight.
Fuck, my cock aches for her.
“An extension for rent? Because you got a job?”
“Yes. I just need a?—”
“I don’t care about an extension. I don’t want your money Madelyn. I want you to be my little…” I almost say whore. I almost say it, but luckily, she does it for me.
“Your whore?” she questions, and I don’t know how she feels about the word.