He laughed. “See you tomorrow, Claire.”
I sat at my desk and stared blankly at the computer screen. All I could think about was yesterday’s rendezvous with Jonathan and how I should’ve let him stay for another hour or two.
I wasn’t sure if it felt so amazing because I hadn’t had sex in such a long time, or if I should give him all the credit.
I called Sandra. “Hey. Are you busy?”
“Of course not, Miss ‘I-Gave-It-Up-Before-The-Third-Date’!” She laughed. “You never texted me back yesterday! How was it?”
“It was amazing...It was the best sex I’ve ever had in my life. Hands down.”
“Really? Better than sex with your ex-husband?”
Hell yes! “Yes...” I was getting hot just thinking about it. “Do you think if I call in sick tomorrow he’ll come over again?”
“What a turnaround from last week!” She laughed. “Probably. I think he likes you.”
That’s exactly what I’m afraid of...
“Oh! Claire, I’ve got to go. I’ve got an emergency patient out front. I’ll call you later.” She hung up and I reclined in my chair.
Thanks to my constant fantasizing, I hadn’t done much of anything all day and I was considering going home early.
“Claire?” Mr. Barnes stuck his head inside my door. “We’ve finally got an idea I think you’re going to like!”
I highly doubt that...
“I’ll be right there. Give me one second.” I waited until I was sure he was gone, and slipped into another pair of panties under my desk.
That’s pair number two and it’s not even noon...
I walked outside my office, spotted the “idea I was sure to like,” and forced myself not to turn back around.
“Mr. Barnes, I told you this ad was racist last week. It’s still racist...”
“Ah, ah, ah! Look closer!” He brought the poster closer to my face. “It’s not just African American slaves now. We’ve got Caucasian slaves, Hispanic slaves, and Asian slaves—with chopsticks! Tell me that’s not diversity!”
“Okay. I’m going home.”
“Stop, stop! It was a joke. Show her the real poster, Tina.”
His assistant put down the atrocity and held up a simple ad of a sPhone blue floating amongst the clouds. It read, “Light. Airy. sBlue.”
“Wow! I like it!” I smiled. “We may have to play with the words a bit, but the visual is spectacular!”
“Finally! You actually like something!” He laughed. “Could you run this up to Mr. Statham? He’s in the art studio. He’s been nagging me about updates all day.”
“Why can’t you do it?”
“I have a recommendation letter to write for Tina.” He looked at his watch. “It’s due in two hours.”
Why is he always so last minute?!
I grabbed the poster and headed for the elevators. Even though I’d been thinking about Jonathan all day, I didn’t want to see him at work unless I absolutely had to.
I stepped off on the art floor and looked around. There was no one at any of the desks, and all the computers looked like they’d been sleeping for hours.
I walked around to the photography room and saw Jonathan talking to a woman in a purple dress. He smiled at me as I entered, then he turned his attention back to her.
“You think we need to hire more senior photographers, Miss Blanc? Won’t that cause more friction?”
“Not at all.” She shook her head. “We need new talent too. Jillian is retiring this summer and Bailey will be taking an extended maternity leave in March. At the very least, we could use two people on one year contracts.”
“I’ll definitely let HR know that tomorrow, Miss Blanc. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“See you tomorrow, Mr. Statham. Thanks for letting all of us take the rest of the day off.” She blushed and walked out of the room.
He waited until he heard the ping of the elevators to say anything to me. “To what do I owe this surprise, Miss Gracen?”
“This is the latest idea from our department.” I handed him the poster. “The words aren’t set in stone yet, but we want to keep the visual.”
“Yes, it’s a very beautiful visual...” He wasn’t even looking at it.
I stepped back. “Could you please look at the board?”
“It looks good. I like the clouds. Happy? Now, answer my question. Why are you up here?”
“Were you expecting Mr. Barnes?”
“I was. I’ve been calling him about this all day and wanted his insight on a few other things.”
“Oh...Ohhhh.” I backed away. “So, you’re interested in pursuing relations with male and female employees. Enlightening.”
He let out a low laugh. “I’m only interested in one employee that works here, but I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to deal with her insulting me...”
“Are you always this glib? It’s a major turn off for me.”
“You know,” he said as he rubbed his chin, “I was thinking about asking you out again, but I don’t want to be stood up twice.”
“Well, don’t ask and you won’t have to worry about that.”
“I won’t.” He locked his eyes on mine, pinning me to one spot, leaving me completely motionless.
Shit, I need to change my panties again...
He stood up and walked over to me, smiling as if he knew I was unable to move. He made a full circle around me and then he stopped and reached into his pocket.
“You kicked me out so fast yesterday that I left without giving you your little friend back.” He retrieved the vibrator and held it out for me. “Are you going to take it?”
I blushed and reached for it, but he moved it away.
“I honestly don’t think you need this anymore, Claire.” He rolled it around in his palm.
“And why is that?”
“Because I’m more than willing to take its place. And I can guarantee that I’ll do a much better job.”
My panties were officially soaked. “Um...I should probably—”
“Go?”
“Yes. I should go...I need to finish some work downstairs and get back to—”
“You don’t have anything to do.” He pulled me into his arms and kissed me senseless.
Before I could react, he slipped his fingers underneath my shirt and popped the snaps off my bra. He cupped the back of my neck with his hand—dipping his tongue deeper into my mouth, using his other hand to rub the small of my back.
“Shut the door,” he whispered in between breaths.
“What?” My eyes widened.
“Okay. Door open it is.” He continued kissing me, sliding my shirt off my shoulders, pushing me over to the table that lined the back of the wall. He slid his hands underneath my skirt and groaned, biting my bottom lip as I tried to break away.
Then he tore his mouth away from mine. “Bend over the desk.”
I stilled. I wasn’t sure whether he was serious or not. Sex right now? On company property? His company’s property?
I stood there blinking at him, thinking I’d interpreted that completely wrong.
“Claire...” He spun me around so my back was to his front, so I was facing the wall. “Bend. Over. The. Desk.”
I hesitated, wishing I’d closed the door when he’d told me to. I tried to turn back around, but he wedged his knee in between my thighs and spread my legs apart.
“I hate repeating myself,” he whispered in my ear, sending chills up and down my spine. “Bend over right now.”
I gasped, slowly bending over the desk, pressing my stomach against the flat surface.
“Grab onto the edge,” he ordered, and I obliged.
I felt him pushing my skirt up and moving my panties to the side, letting out a low laugh when he felt how wet I was. I heard the sound of foil paper crumpling behind me and tried to brace myself for his length.
I didn’t get a chance to take another breath before he slid completely into me, holding me by my waist line.