Room Service Read online

  “Yeah, I guess,” I replied diplomatically. “You off to work?”

  “Yeah, don’t worry, you have the place to yourself for the rest of the night.”

  She nudged me as she went by.

  “You got any plans?”

  “Just relaxing.” I yawned. “I forgot how tough it is actually having to do shit during the day.”

  “Yeah, college spoiled us a little,” she agreed, finally finding her keys. “Okay, I’m off. Have a good night. See you tomorrow?”

  “See you.”

  I waved her off without turning around, dramatically flopping down onto the couch to demonstrate I was too tired to move.

  As soon as she was gone, I went to the kitchen to scavenge, but there was nothing I felt like eating. It was my first day at a new job, and I was tired, hungry, and would soon have more cash than I had in months. If there was any time I could justify getting takeout, it was now.

  I pulled out a pizza menu from the messy drawer above the oven, picked out a deal that sounded good, and called to place my order. Then, I ran a bath and slipped into the warm water, confident I had at least forty minutes before the food arrived. That was plenty of time to unwind and ease the pain in my tired muscles.

  I tried to clear my mind, but instead, found my thoughts drifting to Oliver. He looked so freaking good in those suits.

  I imagined what it would be like to watch him undo the buttons on his shirt, his manly hands careful and his fingers deft as he popped the buttons out on the cuff, slowly pulling the fabric open over his chest. He’d hang the shirt up carefully, maybe shooting me a look as he did so.

  My hand slid down between my legs and I closed my eyes. My fingers found my clit as I imagined him sliding into bed next to me. His skin would feel warm, and his expensive cologne would fill my senses.

  He’d trail his fingers up my bare waist, making me shiver, and he’d grin at the sight of me, so helpless at his touch. He’d lean over to kiss me, almost carefully, pushing his tongue into my mouth as he did so and moaning softly, as though he’d been waiting for the moment all day long.

  As soon as our lips met, he’d grow more dominant, rolling on top of me and sliding his hands up and down my body, hungrily as he continued to kiss me. He would be so far removed from the guys I’d hooked up with in college, so totally in control and powerful, and he’d slip his fingers between my legs.

  “You’re so wet,” he’d growl into my ear, and he’d be right. I’d be waiting for this, craving him, and I’d be so ready. His long, strong finger would slide deep into my pussy, making a beckoning motion. He’d find that oh so sensitive spot, deep within me, and tease it and coax it until my breathing sped up and I began thrusting against his hand.

  He’d have had no intentions of making me wait. He’d unbuckle his pants, and he’d take my hand and pull it to his rock-hard erection, looking me in the eyes as he did so. He’d grimace slightly with pleasure as I touched him, and I’d draw him toward my pussy, aching for him, needing him.

  I’d take his cock and squeeze it in my hand, feeling the throb of his pulse as his heart pounded for me. I’d bring the cock to the lips of my pussy and let it touch me, just enough to get the slightest little bit wet.

  Once he had a taste of me, or once his cock had a taste of my juices, I should say, there would be no stopping him. He’d be throbbing with desire, craving me so intensely that with just a few hard thrusts, he’d be cumming inside me, filling me up with his cum and making a very definite claim on me. I’d be his after that. There’s nothing that says you belong to a man like having a pussy full of his cum!

  I lifted myself up in the bathtub so that my pussy was closer to the faucet. I turned on the water and made sure the temperature was just right. As I continued to fantasize about Oliver, I let the warm jet of water wash over my clit and send pleasure searing through me.

  “Oh God,” I moaned as my body began to surrender to the pleasure that was building up inside me.

  I tried to picture, as clearly as I could in my mind, Oliver’s cock pouring it’s cum into me. I tried to imagine the way it would make him feel toward me, the way it would make him realize that I was his and he was mine. And then, in a crash of ecstasy, I was cumming.

  The orgasm rushed through me like a hurricane.

  Suddenly, the buzzer on the door sounded, ripping me straight from my fantasy and depositing me firmly back into reality. My lips parted in surprise, my eyes flipping open, and I snatched my hand out from between my legs as though I’d been caught doing something I shouldn’t have been doing.

  Frustrated, I dragged myself out of the bath and upright, sighing deeply as I slipped on my robe and went to the door.

  I thought they said a half-hour at least on the phone. This pizza better be damned good if it was going to make up for interrupting my completely work-inappropriate fantasy starring my new boss.

  I rolled my shoulders back, patted my hair into place as best I could, and opened the door. Back to reality.

  For now.

  Chapter 2

  Oliver

  I thought I made myself pretty fucking clear, but obviously, the message had gotten lost somewhere along the way.

  “I mean, have you seen her?” Neil said, raising his eyebrows at me from across the desk and lounging in that confident way he always does.

  I ran my fingers through my hair.

  “Of course, I fucking have,” I snapped back in his direction, irritated.

  Even though he was my business partner and we’d worked together for years, sometimes he really got under my skin.

  “And I told you I didn’t want someone like her.”

  That new secretary of mine had started the previous day, and I could already tell I was in for a rough ride. After what happened the last time, I had been pretty clear about not wanting anyone even remotely distracting, and look who they sent me.

  “Oh, come on,” Neil chided. “You worried you can’t keep your eyes on your own paper?”

  “Not at all,” I shot back, my voice a little more tense than I intended it to be. I sat down in my chair and let out an enormous sigh.

  Mona – was that her name? It was the kind of name you wanted to say over and over again, like a spell on the tip of your tongue, my lips forming into a kiss when I spoke it. She was due to start her second day any minute now, and I knew I had to get myself the fuck in order if I wanted to make sure there was no repeat of last time.

  “What did you say in the advert?” asked Neil, leaning forward, and sensing an opportunity to rip the piss out of me, no doubt. “Only uggos?”

  “Come on,” I rolled my eyes at him.

  “Look, if you can’t control yourself…”

  “I can control myself fine,” I replied firmly. “It’s just…”

  “Yeah, I know, it wasn’t exactly like you pounced on her walking down a corridor.”

  He raised his eyebrows at me. “Just play it a little cooler with this one, okay buddy?”

  “I will, I know,” I muttered.

  Neil got to his feet and clapped his hands together, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

  “I should get back to the office and get some work done.” He glanced at his watch. “See if you can keep your mind on track and you do the same, eh?”

  “Get outta here, asshole.”

  I waved him in the direction of the door and he grinned, clearly pleased he’d managed to get a rise out of me.

  That was how we always played it, busting each other’s balls. It was the only way to keep sane in a business like this one. It could be so easy to get all pumped up on the compliments, the adulation, and the success, so it was good to have someone around to keep my ego at bay.

  I watched him leave, then raked my fingers through my hair and attempted to focus on the papers on the desk in front of me. I knew, though, that I wouldn’t be able to relax until Mona was sitting behind closed doors in the office next to me, out of sight and out of mind.

  Neil was righ
t. I had to keep her at arm’s length. In theory, that shouldn’t be hard. She worked for me, after all, and I’m sure the last thing she wanted was to hook up with some two-decades older man in a suit like me.

  This was surely a stepping stone to something bigger for her, and getting attached was likely the last thing on her mind. I had seen her qualifications, and I doubted Mona wanted to spend the rest of her life running around after me.

  Nevertheless, I was doing my best to make it clear that I wasn’t interested in those pouty lips of hers, or those eyes, or the way her legs looked in that slightly too-short skirt. She was a stone-cold stunner, one of those women who could have cars squealing to a halt on the street as she walked by, even if she didn’t know it.

  It wouldn’t take long for her to figure it out, and God help the men she encountered when she did.

  The door clicked open in front of me, and my head snapped up. There she was.

  “Morning,” she said, smiling at me shyly and headed straight for her office.

  “Uh, Mona?”

  I said her name again before she could close the door behind her, and she paused. I wasn’t sure what it was I wanted to say, but I knew I wanted her to stay in the room with me for a moment longer.

  “Could you double-check my schedule for the day?” I furrowed my brow. “I want to know when the Harrelson meeting is.”

  “Of course.”

  She nodded, flashing me a dazzling smile, and started up her computer.

  I shifted in my seat and found that my gaze followed her. Shit, how did she keep doing this? Why was I so drawn to her? Maybe because she was as close to fucking perfect as I’d ever come across in my life.

  In any other circumstance, I’d have been buying her a drink and inviting her back to my apartment. As the situation was, however, I’d have to find a way to keep it firmly in my pants, because she was my fucking secretary, and like I’d be damned if I was I going through all that again.

  I was almost certain I’d laid out as much to Ann when she was getting ready to hire for the assistant position. I mean, I couldn’t come right out and say it, because it would have been a big HR deal if I had, but she’d seen what a cluster-fuck the last one turned out to be. Not that I was completely innocent in all of that, but still, I assumed she’d be a little more careful about who she’d hire for the position.

  Or maybe, just maybe, she expected someone with as much experience as I had to be able to overlook things like sex and beautiful women to focus on his damn business.

  I bet Neil convinced her to hire someone like Mona because he knew it would get to me. It seemed exactly like the kind of thing he might do – a little nudge and a wink to let me know he knew what I was capable of.

  I rocked back in my chair and ran my fingers through my hair, staring at the ceiling and tightening my lips. I was overthinking this. For damn sure, I was overthinking this.

  I got up to go to a meeting and resolved that for the next week, I would be nothing but cool toward the new girl. Not unpleasant, not an asshole, but nothing more than pointedly, carefully cool.

  If she was still around at the end of it, then I’d know she wasn’t here just to get underneath my skin. I rolled my shoulders back as I walked down the corridor, readying myself for the day ahead, but I couldn’t shake the image from my brain of the gorgeous woman sitting in the office next to mine.

  I did my best to get her to prove herself. Part of me hoped she would take me aside, admit this whole thing had been a mistake, and move on, but she didn’t.

  She took in stride every change of plans, every late meeting that required her to stick around, every note I needed her to take. She had merely nodded, smiled professionally, and disappeared back to her office to take care of it. She was totally unfazed by it all.

  I had to admit, I was impressed. Usually, the high pace and thinking on your feet required for this job had the new starts frantically trying to get a grip on it all.

  Not Mona. She never let me see anything other than complete level-headedness and control, moving comfortably through the office and taking everything that needed to be completed in stride.

  Maybe Anne had actually hired her for her acumen at the job.

  Somehow, that was worse than the other possibility, that she had been picked just to fuck with me. She was proving herself to be indispensable.

  Mona was smart, resourceful, and intelligent, precisely the kind of assistant I’d always needed, but she was also so goddamned gorgeous, I was having a hard time keeping my mind off her.

  I sat in the office on Friday afternoon, staring out the window, processing the accomplishments of the past week and the impending meetings I still had to attend. It had been a long, busy week, and I still had a couple events to endure over the weekend. It was nice to steal a little moment or two of solitude.

  “Hello?”

  My head snapped up, and I turned around, to find Mona. She was hanging through the door between our offices and had her bag over one shoulder.

  “I was going to go unless there’s anything else you need?” she asked, her voice ticking up nervously at the end of the sentence.

  “No, you’re good.” I said. “Doing anything this weekend?”

  She paused at the door, obviously surprised by the interest I was taking in her. She glanced around slowly, as though I could actually be talking to her.

  “Uh, nothing really,” she said with a nervous smile. Her lashes fluttered briefly as she looked at me, and she leaned her shoulder against the door frame, as though settling in for a longer conversation.

  “You?” she asked.

  I snorted with mirthless laughter.

  “I haven’t had any decent weekend plans in years,” I replied. “It’s all business, I’m afraid.”

  “Well, I’m your assistant,” she pointed out. “Maybe I could use some of my organizational skills to free up some time for fun in your schedule?”

  “You’re good, but I’m not sure anyone’s that good,” I warned her. “I’m also not very good at actually taking time off when I need it.”

  “I’ll see what I can do,” she teased and straightened up from the door frame. “I should probably get going. My train leaves soon.”

  “Have a good weekend.”

  I nodded, keeping my tone neutral, but when she turned to leave, I couldn’t help my eyes drifting down to her ass as it swayed out the door and away.

  I closed my eyes and leaned back in my seat. I needed to get my shit together, and soon. This kind of attitude wasn’t going to fly if I was to work with Mona in the long term. How long did those initial contracts last? Six months? More? It wasn’t like I could find a good reason to get rid of her if she continued to be as sharp anyway. I would just have to get over the attraction and remind myself I was a grown man who didn’t need to get hooked on every cute, young thing who walked into my office.

  And find some way to erase from my imagination the image of her bent over my desk with her skirt pulled up over her hot ass.

  Chapter 3

  Mona

  It was nearing the end of my second week at Artemis Tech and I was pretty certain I’d managed to get myself under control. All I had to do was keep my head down, get on with my work, and do my best to keep any thoughts of Oliver and me together firmly to the back of my mind.

  I was also finding I actually enjoyed working there. The people were friendly, but knew when to let me get on with my work, and the job was easy enough not to be stressful but not so much so that I found myself bored.

  I had always been good at organizing. When it came to nights out with our whole, sprawling group from college, I was the one who coordinated everything, choosing where to go and where to stay, making reservations and arranging transportation. This was just an extension of that.

  I sat in my office on Thursday morning. I was already personalizing the space, pasting up post-it notes with the little drawings Katya did on my computer and collecting a variety of snacks in the bottom drawer fo
r those nights I had to stay later at the office than anticipated.

  I was still in that sweet spot where I had new things to learn, so I wasn’t bored yet, and I looked forward to getting to work each day.

  I got to my feet and stretched, standing on my tippy toes and yawning. I was getting used to the early mornings, but I was drinking a lot more coffee than I used to, just to get me going. In fact, I could use another one, now I that thought of it.

  I stuck my head into Oliver’s office, but he was still away at the meeting he had scheduled for ten. Now would be a good time to sneak out and grab another cup.

  I paused in his office for a moment, looking around the place and smiling to myself. If my place was slowly becoming a space that reflected me, then this place was utterly and completely him.

  There was an enormous picture window that sprawled out over the back wall, allowing for a gorgeous view of the city, a reminder of where he was and how far he’d come.

  The space was sleek and minimalistic, but there were a handful of objects scattered around that hinted at sides to Oliver I hadn’t gotten to know yet – a tacky magnet pressed to a filing cabinet from a Spanish resort, a framed, black-and-white photograph of a gorgeous forest scene, and a small metal model of a motorbike that sat next to his computer. I wondered what significance they held for him.

  Who were they from? What did they mean? Did they make him smile when he saw them? Or were they for show, something to humanize him for the business people he met in here, something to make him seem less the lofty businessman and more a regular, relatable guy?

  I knew I shouldn’t have spent that much time lingering. I was just feeding a crush I should have been able to put a pin in days ago. I turned and left down the corridor to get the coffee I so desperately needed.

  Kieran, one of the other guys who worked on the floor, was in the break room when I arrived, pouring himself a mug from the carafe of dark roast. He glanced up as I entered and nodded to me.

  “You want?” he asked, holding up the jug.

  “Yeah, thanks.”