Love Page 5

  I know my husband well. The type of way in which I will disturb him will not make him mad in the slightest. As long as I'm not barging in on a meeting, it's all good.

  "Well, okay," she says with uncertainty and turns back toward her chair. Before she sits down, she remembers her manners and asks, "Would you like something to drink? I can get you some coffee or maybe some hot tea? It's chilly out there today."

  "No thanks," I tell her as I step backward into the hallway and give her a casual wave of my hand. "I'm good."

  I don't spare Lila another glance. She's not important, and I don't mean that dismissively. She's totally important to Zach and his work with the company, and I can see it on her face. She's just very protective of her employer, and it's probably because she sees more than most the stress of his work. I truly don't think she's got any other ulterior motive in trying to put me off the way Zach suspects, and I'm a pretty damn good judge of character about these things.

  "Mrs. Easton," Lila calls out, and I glance back over my shoulder.

  She stares at me a moment, her face a mask of uncertainty, but then she gives me a conspiratorial dip of her head and a small smile. "I'm glad you stopped by. Zach works too hard sometimes."

  My return smile is warm and thankful. "I know, Lila. And thanks for looking out for our guy."

  "Your guy," she corrects me with a chuckle. "But I've got his back here at the office."

  I nod, and then give her a stern look. "Oh, and it's Moira, okay? You make me feel about a hundred years old with that Mrs. Easton crap."

  "Moira," she says with a nod of her head. "Got it."

  I step out of her office and practically skip to Zach's door. Deep breath, let it out, and I turn the knob.

  His door opens quietly, and my heels whisper over the carpet as I step inside. Zach looks devastatingly handsome with his tie loosened, shirtsleeves rolled up, and his forehead supported in the palm of his hand while he bends over some documents on his desk. I shut the door, quietly turn the lock, and then I walk toward him while loosening my belt. I have no silly notions that I'm sneaking up on Zach. He may be in the corporate world now, but he's a man who's always on high alert and he knows someone just entered.

  He just doesn't know it's me because without even looking from the papers before him, he says, "What's up, Lila?"

  "Hey stud," I murmur as I undo the knot completely, and Zach's head snaps up. His eyes immediately fill with warmth and affection as he recognizes it's me in his office, and then they go therma-nuclear when I pull the coat open.

  I had hoped to spring the lingerie on him in a slightly different way, but this works too as his eyes immediately drop to the sea-foam green lace demi bra and matching silk panties I'm wearing.

  "Jesus, Moira... are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Zach mutters as he slumps backward in his chair, his eyes roaming all over me. "Get me to keel over so you can collect on the life insurance?"

  I snort as I let the coat slip off my shoulders to the ground and round his desk. The muscles of his thighs are pressed tight against the dark gray of his wool dress slacks, and they bunch as he twists his hips to swivel his chair so that he's facing me as I come around.

  Never hesitating in my step, putting extra swing in my hips, I catwalk my way right up to him and climb onto his lap. Looping my arms around his neck, I lean in and give him a deep kiss. He responds with a groan and his hands to my hips so he can press me down onto his crotch. My husband lengthens... swells... becomes so hard against me--pressed right into my core.

  I pull my lips from his, sit up a bit straighter, and drop my hands to his lap so I can work at his belt. "Want you to fuck me, baby," I tell him in a husky voice.

  "God, I wish all my work days were like this," Zach says in a growl as his hands come to my breasts. The tips of his fingers scrape at the lace, and he pulls the cups down so he can latch his mouth onto a nipple.

  And oh damn... that feels good.

  My hips flex involuntarily to rub against him, and my hands go still against his belt as Zach overwhelms me with his teeth and tongue. He nips at me, then licks, and when he starts to pull away, my hands automatically clutch at him to hold him tight to my chest.

  "You are the sexiest, hottest woman on the planet," Zach murmurs as he turns to rub his cheek over my sternum. "How'd I get so lucky?"

  How did I get so lucky?

  Tears actually sting at my eyes for just a moment when I consider just how goddamned blessed I really am to have this man, then they're dispelled when my mind fizzles into blissful nirvana as Zach's fingers drop to the edge of my panties.

  "We're going to have to make this fast, and we're going to have to be quiet," he warns me.

  As if I needed him to tell me that. I know full well how dangerous it is to do this in Zach's office, but just the tiniest thought of getting caught makes it all the more exciting.

  "Then let's get to it, Mr. Easton," I urge him as I bat his hands away so I can work at his belt again.

  Just as I clear the leather from the buckle, the phone on Zach's desk chimes loudly, goes silent for a moment, and then Lila's voice comes over the speaker. My hands freeze, and we both tense as she says, "I am so sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Cannon called in and they've convened an emergency board meeting. He needs you to get to Conference Room Two, Mr. Easton."

  I can tell by Lila's nervous tone that she's a little shaken. Zach's head drops back on his chair, and he sighs as I start to quietly buckle up his belt.

  "Did he say what the problem was?" Zach asks in a tired voice as his eyes slide down to watch what I'm doing. He brings his hand over, lays it on top of mine, and gives me an apologetic squeeze. I can feel his hard-on start to deflate between us.

  "Yes. He said that legal believes Mr. Lascola is in breach of his non-compete agreement, and they want to file an emergency injunction right now. It requires board vote, and they would like to get the documents filed and served before close of business today."

  "Christ," Zach mutters as I scramble off his lap and hurry over to my purse to grab my dress. His eyes are pained and his shoulders slumped as he looks at me longingly while I slip it over my head. I give him a reassuring smile.

  "Thanks, Lila," Zach says as his hand comes out to hover over the phone. "Tell Randall I'll be there in five minutes."

  "Yes, sir," she says, and I know by the use of her professional address that this is serious business.

  Zach's finger presses down, and he disconnects. Straightening his tie, Zach apologetically looks at me. "I'm sorry, honey."

  I give him an admonishing look as I turn to help him roll down his shirtsleeves. He plucks his cuff links off the desk and hands them to me. I revel in this quiet intimacy, where I help my husband get all professional looking again. When I glance up at him, his eyes are warm but frustrated.

  "It meant a lot you came over to see me," he says quietly as I insert the last cuff link and twist the bar to secure it.

  "Don't worry," I say with a chuckle. "We'll try this again sometime."

  "How about we pick this back up tonight when I get home from work?" he suggests as my hands come to his shoulders.

  I rise up on my tiptoes, and he bends down. Our kiss is light, short, and full of regret.

  "Sounds like a plan," I tell him. "Think you'll make it for dinner?"

  "Wouldn't miss it," he says, and then pulls me in close with both of his palms to my ass. He squeezes me and leans down to give me a deeper, longer kiss. Reluctantly releasing me, he says, "And the kids are going to bed early tonight. I feel like playing for a long time with you, okay?"

  Heat flashes through me at what that means and I just nod at him, unable to form the right words that would tell him exactly how much I would like that.

  "I love you," he says, giving me one last kiss and then turning to grab his suit jacket that's draped over the back of his chair.

  "I love you, too," I tell him back, not in that automatic way you say to a spouse because it's a routine habit, but
with so much feeling that it almost hurts to release those words into the air.

  Zach feels it. He tilts his head at me, his eyes tender. "You know our wedding anniversary isn't too far away?"

  "It's right around the corner," I say with a smile.

  "We should do something special," he suggests as he takes my hand and we walk to his office door. "Leave the day after Christmas--ditch the kids with Randall. Just you and me, baby."

  "Yeah, we should definitely do that," I say with mounting excitement.

  Just Zach and me together--absolute heaven--and we'd be able to reconnect in a way we so desperately need. We got married the day after Christmas almost eight years ago, and at first, it was the perfect time to celebrate our personal milestone together. But once the kids came along, Christmas was all about them. The last three years, Zach and I did no more than exchange a card with each other because we had been too wrapped up in the kids' experience at this magical time of year.

  "Let's talk about it more tonight. Maybe figure a place we can go to get away from all this."

  "That, Mr. Easton," I say with a slight kiss to his lips, "is the best thing I've heard you offer me in a very long time."

  Chapter 8

  Zach

  I barely made it through the rest of the workday.

  Not that the emergency board meeting was all that stressful. We had been expecting something like this while our legal department looked into Charlie's non-compete he signed years ago as well as the prevailing and current state law. But fuck if the day didn't drag by after seeing Moira in her feminine lingerie, straddling my lap while trying to get my dick out so she could ride it. I had to spend most of my energy redirecting my thoughts to avoid a constant hard-on throughout the day.

  Lila didn't seem all that surprised when I left at five PM on the dot. For once, she didn't try to hold me back to sign or review a million things I hadn't gotten to during the day. I thought that was either very nice of her because she felt guilty I got called away from my wife--not that she had any clue what we were doing--or she was working some other angle to get at me. While I still haven't quite figured out my very own secretary, sometimes things seem so discombobulated in my life that I can't help but expect the very worst from her. Still, I think I'm best served by just trusting Moira's insight that it's probably nothing and worry about more pressing things.

  Like how fast I can wolf down my dinner when I get home and pack the kids off to bed. I realized today just how boring our sex life had become when my wife, who is usually not the naughty instigator, showed up practically naked under her coat at my office. She took the time to do that... for me, for our marriage, and it made me realize... I am going to drown her in pleasure tonight and I'm going to take my fucking time doing it. In fact, so much time that I might just claim her ass when it's all said and done.

  I'm slightly thrown off when I walk into the kitchen, thinking I'll smell the wonderful scent of my wife's cooking and the kids already sitting at the table waiting to be fed. Instead, it's silent, aroma free, and empty. I lay my briefcase on the counter. Still clutching the small bouquet of daisies I picked up on the way home, I walk through the formal sitting room back toward the family room.

  When I walk in, I am most certainly not expecting to see whom I'm assuming is Moira's intern, Josh, sitting on the floor with the kids. We had not met yet, but Moira has been singing his praises. I struggle to remember personal details. It vaguely hits me that he's from Boston and is completing his doctoral thesis. I can't remember a damn thing other than Moira telling me every night that she would not have been able to handle this job without him.

  I quickly take him in.

  Even though he's sitting on the floor with Jaime sitting opposite of him, I can tell he's tall by the way his legs are stretched out. He's young, maybe mid-twenties, and lean. Brown hair with blond streaks running through it and very tanned. He's sporting a full beard, which seems to be popular nowadays. Good-looking guy, but that's not what's setting my hackles up.

  It's that he's on the floor, playing with my kids, who look to be having a fucking great time.

  Cannon is hanging on his back, his little arms wrapped around Josh's neck, and Jaime is trying to crawl up his front. They're all laughing and giggling, and my stomach cramps.

  "Hey," is all I think to say as I set the flowers on the armrest of the couch. I crouch down and hold my arms out to the kids. "Daddy's home."

  My heart almost shrivels and dies when everyone goes still and gazes at me in surprise. Cannon looks at me with vague recognition, and Jaime eyes me shyly. I almost stand up and walk back out of my own house when finally, someone comes to their senses. Jaime releases her hold on Josh's shirt to run to me. I scoop her up, take care not to squeeze her to death, and almost sob in relief when her arms come around my neck as she screams, "Dada".

  Oh, thank fuck. At least one kid likes me still.

  But then Cannon's got his arms latched around my leg, and I shift Jaime over to one hip while I bend over and pick him up to put on the other. Josh springs up from the ground, tugging his Northwestern t-shirt down a bit, and gives me a big smile.

  Perfect white teeth too.

  "Hey," he says as he sticks his hand out for me to shake. "I'm Josh."

  I give a quick shrug of my shoulders and an apologetic look--not sorry at all--and say, "Sorry... hands full. I'm Zach. Good to meet you."

  "Yeah, yeah," Josh says as he stuffs his hands in his jeans pocket. "Um... Moira's in her office wrapping up a call. I was just watching the kids for her."

  "Bet you didn't think that was part of the job description," I say dryly as I stare him down.

  "Oh, I don't mind. Cannon and Jaime are great--easy kids. I have a ton of nieces and nephews, so it's all good."

  I nod and look down the hall, desperately willing Moira to come out of her office. We converted a spare bedroom for her once she got the job with Senpace.

  "She got an emergency call from her boss," Josh explains with a nod of his head toward her office.

  Thanks, Josh... figured that one out on my own.

  "Well, I've got everything in hand if you want to head out," I tell him with a meaningful look that says, Get the fuck out; I've got plans with my wife.

  He gets the message loud and clear, his face flushing red. "Sure... yeah. It was nice to meet you."

  With Jaime pulling on my hair and Cannon just watching the interplay with interest, Josh grabs a backpack off the recliner and slings it over his shoulder. He turns toward the front door just as Moira walks out of her office. Her eyes see him first, and she looks confused. "I just ordered pizza. I thought you were going to stay for dinner?"

  Josh slides a guilty look my way, which really raises my hackles because what the fuck does he have to look guilty about? He says, "Um... Zach's home so I thought I'd just head out--"

  Moira's head turns my way, mollifying me somewhat when her face lights with joy at seeing me there. She strides over to me while saying to Josh over her shoulder, "Nonsense. I invited you to eat dinner with us and you're going to stay."

  I can't help the grimace on my face as she goes to tiptoes, hands at my waist to brush a kiss over my lips. When she pulls back, she looks me direct in the eye, her back to Josh. "I invited Josh to dinner since I kept him late to work, and then he watched the kids while I handled a call with my boss. I hope you don't mind."

  And in her eyes, I read her message loud and clear. I had better not mind.

  I paste a smile on and slide my eyes over to Josh. "Of course, I don't mind."

  "Excellent," Moira says as her hand comes around and pats me on the ass. "I didn't have time to cook, so it's Pizza Hut tonight."

  "That will work," I say, even as I shudder.

  We eat pizza so fucking much that the thought of it makes me want to puke. I'd kill for something different... homemade. Hell, even some spider monkey over an open flame would be awesome now. I know, without a doubt, that part of my resentment stems from the fact that I
still have more years than not of living in a society where the women subjugated and kept the men's bellies filled with food after a hard day's work of hunting and protecting the tribe. While I'm now modern in my thinking and truly believe that Moira's work is as important as mine is, I can't help but feel disappointed that we have to order delivery because my wife is too busy to cook dinner.

  Christ, I'm a fucking caveman and I hate myself for it.

  I lower the kids to the ground and head down the hall to our bedroom. "I'm just going to get changed."

  I hear Moira ask Josh, "Will you watch the kids for a minute?"

  My back tenses as I know that means she's following me back, and I also know this means she senses my displeasure right now. I take a deep breath and will myself to remain calm. Now is not the time for a fight.

  As I loosen my tie, I hear her step into the bedroom behind me and shut the door. She whispers so we aren't overheard. "Is something wrong? You seem bent out of shape about something."

  Yanking my tie free, I start on my cuff links. I debate for a split second whether I give her honesty or I hold peace, either option being appropriate in my mind, but then I decide... I'll give her simple and honest. "I just thought we'd have a nice family night. Didn't figure on company."

  "Well, I didn't either," she says with a hint of fight in her tone. "I certainly didn't expect an emergency call from my boss that would prevent me from cooking dinner, or make me ask my intern to babysit. But it happened, and I made do."

  "But did you have to invite him to stay?" I ask as I set my cufflinks on the dresser before turning to her.

  "Oh, I don't know," she says sarcastically. "Did you have to miss my celebration dinner a few weeks ago?"

  "So this is payback?" I hiss at her as I attack the buttons on my dress shirt.

  "No," she says with a horrified look on her face. "This is adjusting to circumstances. Something got in the way of our plans."

  "Something always gets in the way of our plans," I mutter as I pull my shirt off and throw it on the floor rather than the basket for our dry cleaning. That will drive Moira nuts and was completely petty, but deep down, I know I'm in the wrong here so it's bringing out the inner petulant child in me.