Operation One Night Stand (25 page)

“Brian.”
I breathed out his name as I fell back to the mattress.

“Good girl,” he murmured between tiny kisses along my rib cage.
“Your skin is so smooth.”

I could feel the clench between my thighs when his fingers dug into my hips and he pressed his teeth into my flesh.
Warmth spread from my center and I could feel the swell between my legs.
My thighs quivered in anticipation.

“You have goose bumps.”
He ran his hands along the tops of my thighs as if he were trying to warm me up.

“Your fault.
You’re driving me crazy.”
I smiled and turned my head to look at him.

He bit his bottom lip before saying, “You think
this
is driving you crazy?”
His chuckle did me in and I knew I was in for it.

“Awfully confident.”
I drew up one leg and pressed it against the other, denying him access.

His hands pulled gently and I shook my head.
“Caroline.”

“Brian.”
I giggled before I relaxed my legs.

He gently spread them as he knelt between them.
He teased and gently kissed each inner thigh as my feeble attempt to steady myself crumbled.

His lips kissed me everywhere.
His breath was warm against me.
His fingers explored and his tongue teased.
I felt his fingers pinch and open me wide before he plunged his tongue inside me.
Between his mouth and his fingers, I was brought to the edge over and over, though he didn’t let me fall off completely.
I fisted his gray down comforter as I twisted and writhed.
Each time it became too much and I began to pull away, he dragged me back in until I was finally able to sit up and lean into him.

“More.”
My voice was hoarse.
“Please, Brian.
More.”

I did all I could to push myself closer against him.
Reaching over his back, I hooked my fingers in his belt loops and tugged his body closer.
He responded with a growl as he pushed his hands under my legs and lifted them up, flopping me back down on the bed, but not before I raked my nails up his back.
He muscled my legs as far apart as he could and continued to suck and lick me until a wave of tremors shook me until I felt dizzy.

My entire body vibrated as I yelled, “Oh my God, Brian!”

My thighs squeezed against his face and my toes curled and cramped.
I was mid tremor when he grabbed my hand and lifted me to my feet.
My legs felt like they were going to give out and I fell back to the bed.
Scooping me up, he stepped to the side of the bed, bent down, and pulled the covers back before placing me back down.
My head settled into the pillow as I basked in the afterglow of the orgasm that was still knocking on my lady bits.

“Be right back.”
He padded out the door.

Be right what?

He returned quickly with a bottle of water, top unscrewed.
I took it and gulped down half the bottle before handing it back to him.

He watched me as he drank deeply and smiled as he placed the bottle on the table.

“What are you smiling at?”
I fell back on the pillow.

“You.”

“Me?
I’m funny?”
I crossed my eyes and made fish lips at him.
I felt comfortable enough to act like a goofball and it felt good.

It felt better than good.

It felt amazing.

He crossed his eyes back at me and laughed.
“No.
You’re awesome.
I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I can.”
I reached for the bottle of water.

“You can?”
He cocked his eyebrow with the question.

“Yep.
I saw the way you looked at me.”

“And how did I look at you?”

“The way you look at someone when you like them.”

“I’ll have to relearn my poker face.”

“Don’t do that.
I like it.”

“Well, in that case—” He leaned in and kissed me.
When he pulled away my eyes were still closed and my lips were still puckered.
He pinched my lips and I pulled away, laughing.

“Now come in here with me before I get cold.”
I patted the bed.

“Yes, ma’am.”
He unbuttoned his pants and they dropped to the floor.
His boxer briefs strained for a moment before he slipped those off, too, and slid into the bed next to me.

Both of us lay on our sides, close enough to touch.
He trailed his fingers along my skin.

“You okay?”
he asked.

“Perfect.
Why?”

“I don’t know.
I sort of feel like I was torturing you for a bit there.”

“You sort of were.
But I liked it.”

“Do you need a break?”

A break?
There was more?
“You mean I need more of a break than what you’ve already given me?”

“Yeah.
I guess so.”

I was quiet a moment as I contemplated him.
Smiling, I reached down and fisted my hand around him.

His face broke out into a grin and he said, “I’ll take that as a no.”

He leaned over and reached behind him to open the nightstand drawer.
I heard the foil tear and felt the bed jostle a bit as he rolled on a condom before he positioned himself on top of me, keeping eye contact.
I spread my legs apart to help him settle in.

“Ready?”
His voice was quiet.

I nodded slightly.
“More than.”

I felt myself swell around him as he entered me.
We each drew in a breath and held still, taking in the first feeling.
He leaned down to kiss me.
As the kiss deepened he began to move slowly in and out.
I moved my hips with him until we fell into a slow, steady rhythm.
Dropping to his elbows, he ran his hands along my cheeks and kissed my eyelids.
Each thrust was gentle and deliberate.
I felt each movement down to my toes.

“Beautiful Caroline.”
He whispered in my ear and my skin tingled.

Our rhythm matched, we were in total sync.
There was no ferocity to the lovemaking, as there had been with the foreplay.
The urgency still surrounded us and I wrapped my legs tighter around him and hugged him closer.
The need to crawl inside him was overwhelming.

I rocked my hips hard in an attempt to get closer to him.
He met my thrust with one of his own.
Back and forth we pressed into each other and the feel of him inside me pushed me to my limits until I clenched around him and cried out.

“Oh my God, Brian!”
My legs tightened around him as the orgasm crashed over me.
“Brian, yes!”

He rocked harder into me until my legs fell limp to the side.
Slowing down, he kissed my neck and I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“You okay?”

“Sensitive,” I managed to say between haggard breaths and he chuckled before he stilled.
He was waiting for me to catch my breath.
When I finally calmed down, I smiled and shifted my weight until we rolled and I was on top of him.

“Well, this is nice.”
He smiled as I leaned down to kiss him, my hair wild and curly curtained around us.

“Nice, huh?”
I bit his lip and tugged.
I reached back and wrapped my hand around him as I lifted myself up and guided him back inside me.
His groan was music to my ears.

“Maybe a little more than nice.”
He winked, though I could tell he was struggling to gain his composure.

With my hands on his chest, I pushed myself up until I was sitting across him and he was deep inside me.
Slowly I rocked back and forth and his hands moved from my thighs up my body to my breasts and back down again.

“Still
nice
?”
I asked as I pressed my hands into his chest and grinded into him.

“C-C-Caroline.”
He stammered.
“Oh my God, Care.”

My thighs tightened as I felt my climax build.
He reached around and grabbed my ass, pulling me in faster, his hips thrusting up and slamming into me.
I grabbed his hands and leaned over him, holding them over his head.
My breasts pushed into his chest, my lips found his.

He pulled his hands away and wrapped them around me tight, holding me to him.
Together we thrust and pushed until I erupted and shook.
Two thrusts later and he was the one calling out my name.

I lay on top of him, shuddering and feeling his vibrations.
I closed my eyes to gain some semblance of calm and when I did, I realized I’d already found my balance.

Every emotion I felt was raw and exposed.
It was like I knew what he felt, what he thought.
I was sure my heart showed on my face, as much as his heart shone through.
The longer I looked into his eyes, the farther I fell.
Instinctively, I knew he would be there to catch me.

The next morning I zoomed past my usual wake up time and slept until almost nine.
Raising my arms over my head, I stretched long and hard, smiling when I thought about the night before.
Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around.
Sunlight streamed through the window.
My dress was hanging on the closet door.
And Brian was nowhere to be found.
I flashed back to the morning after he slept at my apartment and frowned.

The frown was short-lived because, as if on cue, he walked into the room carrying a steaming cup of coffee and wearing low-slung pajama pants.

“Good morning.”
He placed the coffee cup on the table and leaned in to kiss me.

He’d already brushed his teeth.
I remembered Steven used to hate it if I didn’t get right up and brush my teeth.
I had to rein in the panic attack.
I had no toothbrush and Brian wasn’t Steven.

“Good morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“I did.
Thank you.
When did you get up?”

“Like an hour ago.
Had to say goodbye to my brother.
He went back home.”

“So we’re alone?”
I propped myself up on my elbow.

“We are.”

I pulled myself up and planted small kisses on his neck and shoulders.

“So, last night, I had Sarah drop off a bag at the bar.”

I pulled back.
“You did?”

“Yeah.
She packed stuff for you.
Extra clothes.
A toothbrush.”

“That was awfully presumptuous.
Did you think I was a sure thing?”
I teased and resumed kissing his body.

“Not exactly, but just in case, I didn’t want you to have to rush off.”

“That was thoughtful.”
I wanted to pay attention to what he was saying but he was just so damn delicious.

“I thought maybe we could do something today.”

“Like what?”

“Go out to breakfast, go to a museum.
I don’t know.”

“Sounds like fun.
But first—” I pulled him down to the bed and climbed on top of him until I was straddling him.
My fingers teased the top of his pajama pants and it was my turn to watch the goose bumps cover his body.
“I have an idea of how we can get this day started.”

“Yeah?”
A slow, sexy grin spread across his mouth.

“Yep.”
I leaned down, pressing my mouth to his.

I
t was just after eleven when Sarah called me.
Brian and I were getting ready to head into the city for the afternoon.

“Care, what the hell happened last night?”

“What do you mean?
I spent the night at Brian’s.
Thank you for packing a bag for me by the way.”

“You mean you don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”

“Does Brian have a computer?”

“Of course he does.”
I placed my hand over the phone and asked him, “Do you have a computer?”

He nodded and I put her on speaker.

“Search yourself.”

“Search my what?”

“Yourself.
Go on the computer and search your name.”

“Okay.”

Brian typed my name into the search engine.

“Did you do it?”

“Yeah, what’s all this?”

“Click on any article, make sure it’s some sort of tabloid, though.”

Brian clicked on the first article.
A huge photo of me slapping Michael stared back at me under the heading “Lover’s Quarrel.”

“Holy shit.”

“Do you see what I see?”
Sarah was obviously alternating between concern and all out laughter.
“Do you see the big red arrow pointing to the big red circle?”

Brian moved closer to the screen.
Both of us stared for a moment before we figured out what was highlighted.

Michael had what looked like a pair of white panties sticking out of his pocket, circled in red by the author of the article.

“You weren’t wearing white panties,” Brian said seriously.

“No shit I wasn’t wearing white panties.”

“Ha!
Care, they think you and Michael are doing it,” Sarah yelled.
Thank goodness she was on speaker or I was sure I would have lost my hearing.

A call beeped in and I looked at the phone.
Yolanda.

“Oh shit, Sarah.
I have to go.
That’s Yolanda.”

“Good luck and I want all the deets on your night with Brian’s love stick.”

Brian suppressed a laugh.

“You’re on speaker.”

“I know.
Later!”

She clicked off and I switched over to Yolanda’s call.

“Hi, Yolanda.”

“I hope you have an explanation.
I thought I told you not to get involved with Michael.”

“I didn’t.”

“Well, it sure as hell looks differently.
I want you in my office now.
Michael and Mr.
Little are already on their way.
We need to figure out a way to diffuse this before it goes viral or whatever you kids call it.”

She clicked off before I could answer.
I plopped into the chair.

“Son of a bitch.”

“We both know those aren’t your panties.”

“Right.”
I stared off into space, trying to wrap my head around the situation.

“Then whose panties are they?”

I knew whose they were.
The question was whether or not I should tell Brian.

“Wait.”
Brian stood up and walked back to the computer.
He studied the screen for a minute before he spoke again.
“Wasn’t that photo taken after my sister interviewed him?”

I could only nod.

“Are those my—” He brought his hands to his head.
“Are those my
sister’s
panties?”

I shrugged but the look on my face told him all he needed to know.

“I will fucking kill that guy!”

“Wait, wait.
We don’t know for sure.
You said your sister went to her friend Melissa’s?
Call your sister and ask her again where she slept.”

His phone was out of his pocket before I finished my sentence.
Dialing his sister’s number, he stalked back to his room and slammed the door.
Though most of the conversation was loud and muffled, I did get confirmation that I was right.
They were Siobhan’s panties.
Looked like two of us got lucky last night.

I battled my inner “You go girl!”
against two things:

1.
I was mentally high-fiving Brian’s sister.
Though I wasn’t sure where he and I were in our relationship, I was pretty sure I needed to side with him on that particular point.

2.
I wasn’t sure if I could actually proceed with the mental high five because it was Michael she slept with.
Then again, we’ve all slept with worse.

I tried to tamp down the judgment, I really did.
I wasn’t into slut shaming.
Like I mentioned, you go girl!
But it was
Michael
.
It could have been anyone but him.
He was such an icky douche bag, it gave me the heebie-jeebies just thinking about the fact that I’d even entertained the possibility he was sexually attractive.
Physically?
A fantastic specimen.
However, his personality dropped his stock exponentially.

When Brian reentered the living space, I could tell he was not handling whatever information he’d just received from his sister very well.

“She’s on her way to your office with him.”

“Michael?”

“Who else?”
His tone dripped with annoyance.

I held up my hands and stepped back.
“Look, don’t be mad at me.
I didn’t do anything.”

“Did you know?”

“That she was going to his place?
No, of course not.”

“Why is she so stupid?
I love my sister but, man, she makes some really shitty decisions.”

“I know it’s not my place but she’s an adult, you know.
At twenty-six, she can’t really be considered a child.”

“And I’m thirty-three.
Still doesn’t give her the right not to use common sense.
Anyone could tell that guy was—
is
—bad news.”

Funny, I hadn’t known how old he was.
I’d never thought to ask.

“Look, why don’t you come with me?
You can sit with her while I lose my job.”

“Fine.
Let’s go.”

He threw on his jacket and opened the door, motioning for me to exit.

The train ride there was filled with icy silence.
Brian was fuming, texting furiously on his phone.
I could only assume Siobhan was on the other end and by the force with which he was stabbing the screen, I was certain she was getting a complete dressing down.
I felt bad for her.
I knew what it was like to make bad decisions and have to live with the consequences.
Hell, I’d made a bad decision that lasted five long years.

The building was eerily quiet, just the way I liked it.
I enjoyed staying late at work or coming in on the weekends to get work done in the peace and quiet.
I ran my hand along the wall as we waited for the elevator.
I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the job.
I’d worked there only two weeks, though it felt much longer.
I had so much more to learn and I knew I’d learn it from Yolanda.
It was a shame I couldn’t make it work.

The elevator dinged when we hit our floor and I told Brian to wait in the lobby.
His sister was already curled up in one of the chairs looking out the window at the city that never sleeps.

I took a deep breath before opening the door to Yolanda’s office.
Mr.
Little, Yolanda, and Michael were all sitting in the room, deep in discussion.

“Caroline.
Please come in.
Have a seat.”
Mr.
Little motioned for me to sit next to him.

“Glad you could make it.”
I didn’t like Michael’s tone.

“I got here as fast as I could.”

“Okay.
We’ve heard what happened from Michael.
We want to know what happened from your point of view.”
Yolanda had her pen poised, ready to take notes.
The yellow legal pad did nothing to make me feel any better about the situation.

I spent the next fifteen or so minutes recounting the evening from the time I reached the restaurant to the time I left.
I did what I could to keep Siobhan out of the mix but with the photo circulating with her panties sticking out of his pocket and the fact that they already knew she’d spent the night with him, there was no getting around mentioning her.

“So, they were not your, er, um”—Mr.
Little stumbled over his words—“panties?”

“No, sir.
They weren’t.”

“What was it exactly that prompted you to slap Michael?”

I closed my eyes and shuddered and retold the conversation he and I had in the hall.
I mentioned how he insinuated Siobhan’s oral prowess and how he propositioned me.

“I did not proposition you!”
Michael leaped from his chair.

“You will sit down, Mr.
Mortimer.
Right now.”
Yolanda’s tone was icy.

I could feel my job slipping from between my fingers and I figured I had nothing left to lose.

“Truth be told, it isn’t the first time, Michael.
And I am quite sure, with an ego the size of yours, it won’t be the last.
Now, don’t misunderstand me.
I can handle you.
I understand you’re a slimy horn ball who gets his jollies off on preying on women you consider unable to fight off your advances.
You’re gross.
Your behavior is unacceptable.
Unfortunately, you’re also a brilliant author.
Even more unfortunately, that fact inflates your ego more than I would ever think is humanly possible.”

I turned my attention to Yolanda.
“Ms.
Page, I love this job.
I love working here.
I know I have a lot to learn.
I wish I could erase the photo that’s spreading like wildfire all over the Internet.
I can’t help but feel as though I’ve let you down in some way.
But please know, if I had any idea as to Mr.
Mortimer’s intentions with Siobhan, I would have put a stop to it one way or another.”

I couldn’t stop talking.
“Mr.
Little, I want to thank you for the opportunity to work for you and your wonderful company.
I only wish my tenure could have been extended.”

The room was silent.
I contemplated standing up and leaving, but Michael was blocking my way to the door.

“Are you giving notice?”
Mr.
Little asked.

“Well, I figured, after all this mess, you wouldn’t want me working here anymore.”

“That’s stupid.”
Yolanda was blunt.
“You’re the best assistant editor I’ve had since I started this business, and that’s saying something.
Indeed, you do have quite a bit to learn, but I think you have a bright future in this business.”

“I don’t want her working on my books anymore.”
Michael pointed at me.

“Well, after this book, that will no longer be an issue.”
Mr.
Little stood and buttoned his jacket.
Even at the last minute on a Sunday, he was wearing a suit.
“We will not be renewing your contract, nor will we be considering any more of your work.
I built this company from the ground up.
We have standards.
We have morals.
And we expect those who work for us to hold the same values.
Are we clear?”

My mouth hit the floor.
I looked back and forth among Yolanda, Mr.
Little, and Michael.

Michael jumped from his seat.
“You can’t do this to me!
I make more money than half your other authors combined!
Yolanda, tell him!”

“I have nothing to say.”
She closed her mouth in a thin line of nude lipstick.

Mr.
Little stuffed his Jets hat on his head and pulled on his gloves.
“My word is final.
You will no longer come into this office.
The rest of the work that is completed on your manuscript will be communicated via e-mail, telephone, or post.
I’ve sat back and watched your shenanigans and have had to spend more money on public relations because of you.
You make us money?
Not after we spend it fixing your shenanigans!
It’s just not worth it anymore.