Chapter 22 Jonah
JONAH
The night after Evie’s incident, I spent that hours pacing my apartment, too keyed up to sleep.
I told myself I shouldn’t care. I shouldn’t care that I never got to tell her that what I wanted from her didn’t just involve sex. That I wanted the dinners, the dates, and the conversations just as much as I wanted the sex. That I wanted to know more about her past, and her wishes for her future.
By morning, I was still wound up, like someone had knocked something loose in me I couldn’t put back together.
The timing was shit. I needed to wait until she was done with her internship, and while she wasn’t in the middle of trying to figure out where her daughter would be spending her days in four months.
I should have known what that fear looked like.
It was the same reason why my Mom had handed me over to Dad when I was four.
Because while Mom had truly loved me, she wasn’t able to give me the financial safety I needed.
I learned that when I was nine, and a letter arrived from a lawyer with Mom’s name on it and my dad finally explained why I would never be able to meet her again.
Her alcohol addiction, which had started after giving me up, had taken its toll on her.
She’d died from alcohol poisoning in a matter of a day.
I didn’t think I could ever recover from that loss.
Which was why I respected Lexi’s decision to prioritize her child over me. So I made a change to the day care policy, thankfully one that didn’t need the board to vote on.
The attraction between Lexi and me wasn’t subtle. It was loud, electric, impossible to ignore. So was the pressing need to not pursue her and complicate life further.
So, I buried myself in work. Back-to-back meetings, strategy reports, and late nights I pretended were about the quarterly targets when, really, they were about not thinking of her. I stopped taking the elevator to her floor, and told myself I was over her. That it had been a passing thing.
I’d almost convinced myself.
Until today.
A few days passed since that that Thursday evening when I’d discovered Evie wandering alone. This Monday morning had been hell. I’d come in earlier than usual after our head of sales tipped me off that we lost two major clients.
On top of this mess, I had lost my favorite coffee thermos. The engraved one that had once belonged to Mom. I’d made do with another cup, but I hated not knowing where I’d left Mom’s. One of the break rooms perhaps?
I was forcing myself to forget about it and push through work when Lexi walked into my office, not bothering to wait after she knocked.
“What’re you doing here?” I asked, stunned as I looked up from my monitor to find her. The sight of her brought a mix of emotions I hadn’t been ready to deal with today.
Her hair was slightly windblown from her hurried march through the office. I hated that my first instinct was to admire the way the light hit her skin and how beautiful she looked.
I stood slowly, every muscle pulled tight.
“I wanted to thank you for what you did,” she said, her voice trembling. “You don’t know what it means to me to have the daycare option available for me. Thank you.”
Right on cue, a knock sounded at the door behind Lexi and I groaned inwardly. Couldn’t I just have a minute in my office with her without being disturbed?
“Come in,” I said.
Derek Wei, my CFO, and Miles Harrington, my CTO, entered. Both were broad, imposing men who didn’t spare Lexi so much as a glance as they made their way to the chairs in front of my desk.
“We need to discuss the quarterly projections—” Derek started.
“Not now,” I cut him off, my tone leaving no room for argument. “Come back in ten minutes.”
Derek’s eyebrows shot up. Miles looked between me and Lexi, finally seeming to notice her presence.
“But the board meeting is in forty—” Miles began.
“Give me ten minutes,” I repeated, my voice hard. “Close the door on your way out.”
Both men exchanged glances, clearly surprised. I never postponed meetings. But they knew better than to push. Derek nodded curtly and they filed back out, closing the door behind them.
I could feel the heat of Lexi’s surprise as she stared at me, and then lifted her hand to reveal that she’d been holding a coffee thermos all along.
My missing coffee thermos.
“You forgot your coffee in the third-floor break room,” she said, locking her eyes with mine as she set it on my table. Beside it, she placed a napkin, then looked at me.
She bit her lip as our gazes met across the desk. Without thinking, I swept the napkin into my pocket.
She had that spark in her eyes again, the one that made my heart skip a beat. Damn it, a woman like her was meant to be more than just another employee. “You kicked your colleagues out of the room just for me?”
I raised an eyebrow, giving her a wry look before I pocketed the napkin.
“I’d do a lot more to get some time with you again,” I admitted.
A small, knowing smile tugged at her lips.
“Come here,” I said, the words heavy with unspoken meaning.
For a beat, she stared at me, before her wariness shifted into something else entirely. Electricity crackled between us, and then, without hesitation, she came willingly into my arms.
I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her onto my lap and kissed her fully and deeply without worrying about how loud I was being.
The moment her lips met mine, I lost myself in her.
I forgot about our fights, our workplace, and our complicated situation.
All I wanted was to kiss her with everything I had.
To breathe in her scent, to commit everything to my memory because god knew if we’d get another chance.
“I hate that I can’t stay away from you,” she murmured between kisses, her hands going around my shoulders as I tasted her. I could feel her breath on me, her tongue warm, as our kiss went deeper.
“And I love it,” I responded, my voice low and rough, before I leaned down again to claim her lips once more.
Her body melted against mine, her chest rising and falling against me as her fingers tangled in my hair.
My lips moved against hers, stealing her breath and my own sanity in the process.
Was she feeling this too? This dizzying rush that came from kissing her soft mouth?
She answered my unspoken question by taking things further, her lips drawing my bottom lip between hers before she bit down gently, sending a jolt straight through me. A soft moan tore out of her before she finally pulled away, breathless.
Her face was flushed with a mix of frustration and desire, and her gaze burned into mine.
I tilted her chin up with my finger, forcing her to meet my gaze. My thumb traced along her jawline, feeling the rapid pulse at her throat. “You found my coffee thermos.”
“And you might’ve just tipped your executives off about us with that stunt.”
“Us?” I asked, a smirk tugging at my lips despite myself. My hand slid to the back of her neck, fingers threading through her hair. “Is there an us now?”
My hands tightened on her waist.
“Something about you drives me mad,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. My fingers traced slow circles against her hip. “And when you’re not driving me mad, you’re pushing me headlong into lust.”
Before I could process what was happening, she was kissing me again, her lips hungry against mine. I ran my hands over the fabric of her blouse, feeling the heat of her body under my fingertips.
She was almost at the end of her first month here. Which meant she had three months left here. Which seemed like an eternity if I stayed away from her the entire time.
“Try as I might, I can’t see myself going one more day without seeing you,” she murmured, her breath warm against my lips.
I laughed roughly, the sound thick with desire.
Her hands moved to tug at my shirt. “How about you? Have you been thinking of any other woman recently, Jonah Walkers?” she asked, her fingers deftly undoing the buttons.
“How could I when you’ve been occupying my mind every freaking minute of my day?” The words came out breathlessly as her hands worked quickly to undress my shirt. I stared down at her fingers, momentarily stunned. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Oh, someone told me I wasn’t getting any of this,” she said, a teasing glint in her eyes, “and I wanted to prove him wrong.”
She exposed my chest, her hands roaming over it, making me hard for her. I laughed, pulling her closer, my own hands now aching to explore her body.
“Just one last time,” she breathed out, while I dipped my hands under her blouse, pulling her bra up, and ran my thumbs over her breasts. They were soft, well-rounded and fit so well into my hands. Gently, I palmed them, and she let out a gasp while I pinched her nipples.
“It’s all yours for the moment,” I said, my voice rough with desire, while I caressed her bare breasts.
I dipped my head, running my tongue along one of her nipples, teasing it to a point, and her moan was even louder.
My hands ran up and down the sides of her torso as I sucked a nipple into my mouth.
Her skin was burning against my palms, and I groaned, adding my teeth as I scraped her nipples.
Her legs moved to go on either side of me, and unthinkingly, I helped her.
She rocked her hips once, twice, while I teased her swollen breasts, my hand skimming down her sides before I found her clit under her pants.
I circled my thumb on her clit, and she moaned before putting a hand out to stop me. “No, Jonah,” she said, with a glance at the door. “Not here. Not now. There’s no way I could be quiet enough for what we both want.”
She was right. This wasn’t the time or place, and I wanted more than just a quick fuck with Lexi. I wanted hours and hours with her.
With deep regret, I let go, pulling her bra back down over her before I buttoned my shirt up. She quickly pulled her blouse back down and when she made to stand up and move off me, I circled my arm around her waist firmly and held her tight. “Don’t leave,” I said quietly.
When it looked like she was going to protest, I added in a softer voice, “Not yet.”