Recess (n.):
Temporary withdrawal or cessation from the usual work or activity.
Andrew
I’d broken a lot of rules in my life, but sleeping with an intern was probably one of the worst ones. There was no precedent for this, and that terrified me.
The second I left Aubrey’s apartment, I did what I normally did after f*cking someone I met online: I went home, showered, poured a glass of my favorite scotch, and pulled out my laptop—preparing to search for the next.
Except this time, I didn’t want to search for a next. I wanted to f*ck Aubrey, again and again. I wanted to hear her scream a little louder, feel her body wrapped against mine, and see her face as I buried myself deep inside of her.
Damn...
I couldn’t believe this. I could count on one hand the number of women I’d thought about after I left a hotel, and it wasn’t because any of them were memorable in a good way. And the ones that were good, were just “good”—never amazing, like Aubrey.
A part of me felt bad for leaving her right after we finished, for not saying a word, but I had to leave.
I didn’t do pillow talk conversations after sex. Ever.
Even though I was more than tempted to drive back over there right now and claim her again, I had to make myself accept a very harsh fact: I was never going to sleep with her again. It was against my rules.
***
“Where is my coffee, Jessica?” I called her desk. “Why hasn’t Miss Everhart brought it to me yet? Is she late today?”
“No, sir.” She sounded confused. “It’s only seven thirty...”
I looked at the clock on my wall and sighed before ending the call. I was on edge for some reason, and I didn’t like it.
I’d failed to get any sleep the night before and I’d purposely ignored Aubrey’s midnight text. It’d read, “Can’t sleep...Can we talk about what just happened between us?”
The answer was no.
Our conversations were long over. There was nothing more we had to discuss.
We talked. We f*cked. That was the end of us.
I pulled up the Dating-Match website, determined to get her out of my mind. All I needed to do was find someone else, and she would become a drop in the sea of other endless women—a fleeting memory that I would halfway remember whenever I saw her gorgeous face.
There were hundreds of new women on the site now, but very few of them caught my eye. The ones that did seemed too good to be true, so I didn’t bother clicking on their full profiles.
Just as I was reading about a math professor, a cup of coffee was set on my desk.
“Good morning,” Aubrey whispered.
I didn’t answer. I continued to scroll through online profiles; she’d get the point eventually.
She sighed. “Andrew—”
“It’s Mr. Hamilton.” I looked up, immediately wishing that I hadn’t. She looked even more stunning today than she did yesterday. She was wearing the same grey dress she’d worn to her interview, and it was tighter today than it was on that day. Her hair was falling in soft curls that fell past her shoulders, and her blue eyes were bright, hopeful.
“Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked.
“Is it about your work?”
“No...”
“Is it about my work?”
“No...”
“Then no. Get out.”
“It’s about yesterday.” She stood still, making my cock stiffen as she bit her lip.
“Yesterday was a mistake, a regrettable moment in both of our careers, and I assure you that it won’t be happening again.”
“That’s not what I was going to say.”
“Miss Everhart,” I said, standing up from my desk and walking over to her, “you and I work together professionally. If I had known the truth behind all of your ridiculous lies earlier, I would’ve immediately stopped talking to you. And then I would’ve reported you for stealing someone else’s information and using it as your own. The fact that you are a liar remains, and unfortunately—given those circumstances and the fact that I’ve already f*cked you, there’s nothing more that needs to be said between us.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but I pressed my finger against her lips.
“Nothing more,” I whispered, bringing my face close to hers. “Understood?”
“You are...” Her bottom lip quivered as she jerked away from me. “You are such an a*shole! I can’t believe that I slept with you!”
“Believe it. I’m sure it’ll be a very good memory for you since you hardly ever have sex.”
She shook her head. “Were you pretending on the phone, too? You’re nothing like the man I talked to at night, nothing like—”
“Please spare me the emotional appeal bullshit, Miss Everhart. I’ll have my next cup of coffee at noon. Thanks.”
“You’ll be waiting.” She rolled her eyes. “I’ll get it when I feel like it.”
“You’re going to make me fire you over a cup of coffee?”
“To be honest, you might not want me to make your coffee, Mr. Hamilton.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “There’s no telling what I’ll put in it.”
“I f*cking dare you...” I stepped closer.
“Is that a threat?” She shrugged.
“It’s a f*cking promise.” I pushed her against the wall and pressed my lips against hers, lifting her leg around my waist.
My cock had been hard ever since she set down my coffee, and she was rubbing her hand against it through my pants right now, murmuring.
I pulled a condom out of my pocket and pressed it into her hand as I devoured her mouth—biting her soft lips, teasing her tongue with mine. If I could, I would f*ck her mouth all day.
As she unzipped my pants, I slipped a hand underneath her dress and pushed her panties to the side, groaning once I felt how wet she was.
“Andrew...” She was taking too long with the condom, so I did it myself. The second I had it on, I slid into her deeply, biting her lips so she wouldn’t scream.
I grabbed her hands and placed them around my neck. “Always wet...” I felt her trying to move her leg from around my waist but I held it still. “Say my name again...”
“Yes...” She gasped as I pounded into her, over and over and over. “Yes...”
“Say it.” I squeezed her ass.
Her murmurs were becoming louder and louder.
“My name, Aubrey...” I kissed her mouth. “Say my name...”
Her p-ssy was gripping my cock tighter and tighter, and her nails were clawing my neck. “I...I’m about to...”
I immediately stopped mid thrust and whispered harshly into her ear. “Say my f*cking name, Aubrey...”
Her nails dug into my skin. “Andrew...”
At the sound of my name on her lips, I slid into her again and she came, so perfectly. I felt my own release seconds later, and could feel her burying her head in my chest to stifle her moans, but I tilted her head up.
“Stop that...”
Panting, she kept her eyes on mine. “Stop, what?”
“Hiding your voice from me...” I kissed her lips again, making no move to slide out of her, and we stood there entwined in each other for what felt like forever.
As much as I wanted to tell her to leave and get the hell out of my office, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Instead, I kissed her forehead and slowly pulled out, readjusting her dress.
After throwing away the condom, I picked up one of her heels that had fallen off and held it out for her.
Her curls were tousled all over her head, so I smoothed them back into place. As if she was returning the favor, she refastened my zipper and fixed the collar of my shirt.
Then the two of us stood staring at one another. I had no idea what the f*ck just happened, and only a part of me liked it. The other half loved it.
“You need to get back to work.” I tugged at the ballet slipper charm around her neck. “You still owe me that Brownstein report, demotion or not.”
“You told me it wasn’t a demotion.”
“I took a page out of your book and lied.” I rolled my eyes and stepped back. “Get back to work.”
“Fine, Mr. Hamilton.” She smiled and headed for the door.
“And when you come back,” I added, “just leave my afternoon coffee on that bookshelf and walk out. Don’t come anywhere near my desk and don’t say anything to me.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll f*ck you again if you do.”
She blushed and stepped out of the room.
The second she was gone, I fell back into my chair and shook my head.
Twice in less than twenty four hours? Jesus...
I pulled up my latest case file, but I couldn’t bring myself to read it. All I could think about was Aubrey.
I’d felt something like this before, and I knew it would lead to nothing but despair. What I felt was nothing deep, nothing all-encompassing—yet, but it was real, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
I’d built the last six years of my life detaching myself from any chance of having feelings for someone else, refusing to build any friendships, but Aubrey had snuck by my impenetrable doors somehow. And not only had she snuck by, she’d done it with lies, something I would never allow from anyone else. Something that would make me immediately discard her and never think of her again.
I had absolutely no idea how to handle this. This was uncharted territory and I had no idea where to sail next.
Sighing, I picked up my case file and forced myself to read the first few pages so I could get a grip on myself. Before I knew it, I was lost in my work, and the only thing on my mind was how I was going to convince a jury to believe my latest client’s bullshit.
Before I could call the lead prosecutor and ask what he was offering in exchange for a plea deal, I felt something hot splashing into my lap.
My goddamn coffee.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I dropped my papers to the desk, glaring at a red-faced Aubrey. “Did you just throw that into my lap on purpose?”
“I did.” She nodded, and I realized there were tears in her eyes. “Bringing you your coffee is my job, right?”
“Are you f*cking bipolar?”
“No, I’m just a liar like you said. I’m actually just like you, but at least I can admit when I haven’t told you the truth, at least I have a reason.”
“Excuse me?”
Tears fell down her cheeks. “You have a visitor at the front desk.”
“Is it your replacement?” I asked dryly. “Because I swear to God, if these stains don’t come out of my pants—”
“It’s your wife.”
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thank you Tamisha Draper for being the amazing and wonderful powerhouse that you are. You answer my endless phone calls (much to your husband’s dismay LOL), read my books over and over again, and even force me to sit down and write sex scenes when I say things like, “Would the readers really hate me if I just faded all of these sex scenes to black? No, really. Would they? They’d still love me, right?”
I don’t know of anyone who would willingly work so tirelessly—anyone who would spend fifty plus hours a week working on a career that is not her own, in exchange for next to nothing...
I’m actually crying while writing this because I honestly don’t deserve to have a friend as great as you. You go above and beyond with every single book I write, and you push me to make sure that each one is ten times better than the last. (If I ever make it, I swear I will find the best way to pay you back. I f*cking promise.)
Thank you to all of my blogger friends that I’ve made so far—Bobbie Jo Malone Kirby (Why do you pick such EMOTIONAL books?! LOL), Kimberly Kimball, Stephanie Locke, Lisa Pantano Kane, Michelle Kannan, and COUNTLESS more! (If I left someone out, I am sooo sorry! And hey, I self-published this, so I can easily re-upload it with your name here LOL...Seriously though, I can...)
Thank you to Evelyn Guy for the final proofreading work...I noticed you didn’t write much in the sex scene parts...LOL
Thank you to my mother, Lafrancine Maria, for letting me read this book to you aloud. Can’t wait to see your face when I read book 2!!!
Last and NEVER EVER least, thank you to the best readers in the world! I really do love you more than you’ll ever know!! (Or, as you know me to say, I. F*cking. Love. You.) So, question. How do you like Andrew Hamilton? Do you think he gives Jonathan Statham a run for his money? LOL
F*cking Love You,
Whit
Letter to the Reader
Dear Incredible Reader,
Thank you so much for taking time out of your life to read this book! I hope you were thoroughly entertained and enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
If you have any extra time, PLEASE leave a review on amazon.com, B&N.com, goodreads.com, OR send me an email ([email protected]) so I can personally thank you :-)
I’m forever grateful for you and your time, and I hope to be re-invited to your bookshelf with my next release.
Love,
Whitney Gracia Williams