Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (39 page)

Olivia looks up at him feeling annoyed.
“No.”

Leaning forward he takes hold of her hands
and pulls her to her feet so she’s standing in front of him. His
touch awakens every nerve ending in her body making her ache with
the awareness of how close he is. The smell of his cologne makes
heat sizzle through her as she remembers why he wears it. Lifting
his hand and brushing the hair out of her eyes, he gets a tightness
in his gut that twists his muscles into knots and makes his blood
pump warmth through his body. “I’m glad to hear that.”

“There is something I want to ask you.” He
continues to play with her hair twisting her curls around his
finger. It’s one of his habits that she’s quickly growing
accustomed to and although it’s precisely the kind of intimate
gesture she was hoping to avoid she doesn’t discourage him.

“Will you be my date for the grand opening
of the restaurant?”

She’s totally taken off guard. “Me?” Didn’t
she say something about no dating? It’s hard to remember, with
being this close to his body. It’s hard to think about anything
really, when he’s near and she can feel the warmth of his skin and
smell his cologne.

“Yes... YOU”

The memory of Hannah’s words haunt her and
she hesitates, very seriously considering saying no.

Ethan is aware that her mind is elsewhere
again. It seems to happen a lot. “Olivia?”

There is something about his meadow green
eyes that coaxes her back to him. Well I guess… but that’s only
because you’ll refuse to take NO for an answer anyways.”

He nods in agreement. “This is true. I’m not
fond of hearing ‘NO’. “

She squints at him. “Do you ALWAYS get your
way?”

He smirks in his annoying Irish charming
way. “Yes, most of the time.”

She takes a deep breath in and presses her
lips together tightly. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

He scowls at her, trying to figure out what
the hell happened to her this week. “Yes, that’s what I want. It
would make me very happy.” He puts his hands on her hips and pulls
her forward. Forgetting that they are in her office in the middle
of the day she leans her face against his chest as he wraps his
arms all the way around her in a warm embrace. She can’t stop
herself. This is what she’s been missing.

“Ok, I’ll go. But it’s NOT a date.”

Ethan hesitates a moment, almost reacting
angrily but then thinks the better of it and letting out a heavy
sigh before he speaks. “Will you let me pick you up in the limo and
have dinner with me first?”

“Yes.”

“You’ll stay by my side and be only with
me?”

She sighs in frustration. “Yes.”

“And you’ll let me take you home afterwards,
maybe stay for a little while?”

She leans back so she can see his face.
“YES!” She says impatiently.

He grins. “Then you can call it whatever you
want.” He sways her gently in his arms, breathing in her perfume.
“I want you to wear that black dress, the one you were wearing that
day at the coffee shop.”

She laughs under her breath. “Well that’s
pretty much a given.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t afford to buy anything new until
after I get the car repairs paid off.”

“I thought you had the money to pay that?”
He leans back so he can see her face. She uses the opportunity to
take a step back, knowing that she needs to separate herself from
his addictive muscled body and get back to her workday.

“Well not exactly. They are letting me pay
it off in equal payments over the next 3 months.”

His jaw clenches and he exhales harshly in
frustration. “Olivia, I told you that I would pay for it if you
didn’t have the money.”

“Relax, I’m managing.”

He shakes his head. “See? I knew you were
going to drive me completely crazy.”

She grins. “Well…every girl has a talent. I
guess that’s mine.”

Ethan shakes his head. “Great!” The sarcasm
in his tone amuses her.

“I need to get back to work. You’ve been
here for over an hour. You’re going to get me in trouble.” She
steers him towards the door and down the hall towards
reception.

“Just tell your boss that I’m a potential
client.”

“Uh huh, and you were in my office for
almost an hour and a half, why?

She pushes open the front door and follows
him to his car.

“Discussing the services I’d like you to
provide. Of course.” He winks as he flashes her that irresistible
smile.

Maybe it’s his cologne or maybe it’s the
pheromones that bring out the naughty in her. “If I had blinds on
my office door I would have shown you exactly how well I would
“service you.” She locks onto his gaze with a sensual audacity that
leaves him speechless and makes his dick spring to life with
amazing swiftness.

“Jesus… there’s that look again.” He unlocks
his car door. “I best get on my way before my dick takes control
and I wrestle you into the back seat to have my way with you.”

She gives him a devilish grin. “Ah, did you
read the fine print? There’s an extra fee for out of office
consults.” When she turns to walk away, he grabs her wrist and
yanks her towards him, her body stopping against the unmistakable
bulge of his semi hard-on. His biceps flex as they wrap around her,
preventing her escape. Holding her against his hard chest, he
lowers his lips, pressing them firmly on her forehead and then
slides to her ear and whispers. “I really missed you this
week.”

She feels the same way but she can’t bring
herself to say it. She presses the palm of her hands on his chest
and after rubbing them gently across the rigid outlines of his
muscles, she pushes herself away. “I have to go.” Turning, she
walks towards the building without looking back. Ethan grins as he
watches her swing open the door and disappear inside. He’s wearing
her down. He can tell.

Pulling out of the parking lot he starts to
head for home, but then taking a look at the clock on the dashboard
he decides that he has more than enough time to make a stop at a
certain auto repair shop on the way. There is a certain matter of
an outstanding repair bill that requires his attention.

Olivia stops at Rachel’s office on her way
down the hall and stands at the door with her arms crossed waiting
for her to acknowledge her. When she does, Olivia gives her a look.
“Really? You told him that I wasn’t eating?”

Rachel cringes.” Geez, yeah. I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean to tattle on you. We were just talking and he was
worried about you and…. Do you forgive me?”

Olivia lets her arms relax at her side.
“Yeah, I guess so. I can’t believe he showed up here with
food.”

“The brownies were killer. Did you have
one?”

Olivia shakes her head no. “I had fruit.”
Her curiosity piques. “Rachel, did you tell Ethan about my orange
peel phobia?

“No.”

“Do you think Scott might have mentioned it
to him?”

“I’ll ask him, but I doubt it. Men don’t
talk about that kind of stuff. Why? What’s going on?”

“Ethan did the strangest thing today.”

Rachel gets excited. “Tell me!”

“We were eating lunch and chatting and he
reached over and picked up my orange and peeled it for me.”

Rachel looks disappointed. “That’s it?
That’s actually kind of sweet.”

“I know, but when I asked him about it he
said.” She stops, wondering if Rachel is going to think she’s nuts
again.

“What?” Rachel presses for her to
continue.

“He said that he has ALWAYS peeled my
oranges because I take too long trying to pick off all the stringy
bits.”

Rachel’s brow creases. “Really? That is a
little strange.” She changes the subject. “But oh my God, he looked
so cute!”

Olivia smiles. “Yeah, he did. And he always
smells so heavenly.”

Rachel laughs. “Well that’s special for you
because he didn’t smell like that at my house.”

Olivia saunters back to her office with
absolutely no motivation to continue working. The more she tries to
put him out of her mind the more she thinks about being pressed up
against his chest, his strong arms wrapped around her and his hard
cock rubbing against her. She’s suddenly consumed by the need to
have him. It’s not the kind of need that will be sated if she were
to ‘take things into her own hands’ so to speak. The only cure for
this kind of desire is foreplay that starts as an idea that’s been
lurking in the corner of her mind and unfolds into the form of a
steamy fantasy that she has thought about for a very long time. One
that allows her to be a very dirty girl.

Picking up the phone, Olivia dials his
number and holds her breath until he answers.

“O’Connell.”

“It’s me.”

“Hey, is everything ok?” He leans on the
counter supporting himself on his forearms and shifting his weight
onto one hip.

“Do you have to go to the restaurant
tonight?”

“Yes. I’m afraid so. Why?”

“I don’t want you to go.” She spews out,
sounding whiny and needy.

He furrows his brow in concern. “What’s
going on, Liv?”

“I want you to come see me instead.”

“Olivia, are you ok?”

“No. I’m having… um... thoughts.” No, that
didn’t sound desperate at all. She rolls her eyes.

“Thoughts?” A smile forms on his lips. “What
kind of thoughts?”

Talking quietly, she looks up to make sure
her office door is closed. “Naughty thoughts.”

Ethan stands straight up, shocked. “Ok.
You’ve got my attention.”

“I’m feeling a little adventurous.” She
whispers into the phone.

“I’m intrigued.” His dick is already hard
and he doesn’t even know what she has in mind yet.

She hesitates. “Remember the other night
when you suggested I could PAY you back for the coffee with sexual
favors?”

Ethan begins to pace across the kitchen
floor, his arousal tenting his track pants.

“Yes, go on.”

She can’t believe she’s having this
conversation. “Well, I thought you could come by and” She clears
her throat. “deliver dinner… and”

She doesn’t have to finish her thought. He
knows what she’s getting at. “Give me 5 minutes I’ll call you right
back.” Hanging up abruptly, he leaves her sitting at her desk with
her phone in her hand, not quite sure what just happened.

Ethan searches through the records of his
incoming calls until he finds the number for the technician that
called. He hits dial and waits. After several rings he finally
answers. “Hello.”

“This is Ethan O’Connell.”

“Yes sir. I still don’t know what time we’ll
be there.” He already knows why he’s calling.

Ethan gets straight to the point. “I’ll give
you $100 cash each, if you’re done and gone by 5pm.”

There is a moment of muffled silence as he
has a few words with his partner.

“Mr. O’Connell, we are just around the
corner. We’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Olivia has a moment of anxiety when Ethan
calls her back. “It looks like I will be able to accommodate your
request after all.”

A delicious tingling starts between her
legs. “You can?”

“Yes, I’ll meet you at your place at 6pm. I
still have to go over to the restaurant later on, but we’ll have
lots of time before then.”

“Ok.”

There is a knock at Ethan’s door. “I’ve to
go, the technicians are here.”

“Ethan, wait! Come to the front door… and
don’t bring pizza, it’s a little too cliché.”

“OK, got it! See you soon.”

Olivia has no idea how she manages to get
through the rest of her afternoon. Rushing home, she has a shower
and chooses a black lace bra with matching panties. After wiggling
into a pair of knee length black leggings she grabs a sheer white
blouse that she purchased but has never worn. It’s so revealing
that she is uncomfortable wearing it out in public even with a
camisole underneath it. Holding up the camisole, she considers
wearing it before tossing it to the side and pulling the blouse
over her head. Standing at the mirror, she smiles. Every detail of
her black lace bra shows through leaving very little to the
imagination. It’s naughty and sexy and perfect for what she has in
mind. He is going to lose his mind when he sees her.

She’s so nervous that she almost jumps out
of her skin when the doorbell rings. Opening the door, she finds
him leaning against the porch rail holding a paper bag with Chinese
lettering stamped on it. He jolts straight up, standing erect like
he’s been struck by lightening and almost dropping the bag when he
sees what she’s wearing. “Holy mother of all…!”

She blushes. “Come in.” She motions to him.
“You can put it on the counter.”

When she holds the door open, he purposely
brushes against her as he passes, taking a long, shameless look at
her breasts. Electricity crackles between them and moisture already
starts to gather between her legs. Making his way to the kitchen,
he places the bag on the counter. Turning, he finds her staring at
his perfectly taut ass and pretending to be embarrassed that she
got caught.

“How much do I owe you?” She tries to stay
in character without giggling.

He buries his hand into his pocket and digs
out the receipt. “$17.00”

“My wallet is right… there.” She points to
where he’s standing. “I’ll get it for you.” Leaning back against
the counter directly in front of it, he doesn’t move. She looks
right into his eyes as she presses up against him. “Excuse me.” He
exhales hard as she leans against his chest, pressing her breasts
against him as she reaches for it.

When she has her wallet in hand, she takes a
step back, fumbling as she opens it and looks through all different
compartments. Suddenly she looks up at him and tucks her hair
behind her ears. “I’m afraid I don’t have enough money.” She tips
the wallet towards him so he can see that it’s empty. “I guess I
forgot to go the bank machine.”