Playing with Power - Book 3: New Adult Office Romance (10 page)

“Come here,” she purred. He fell forward on his elbows and kissed her briefly, not the passionate kiss she yearned for. She tried to embrace him, pull him tightly to her body but he just wasn’t interested.

“I know! Flip over.” Less enthusiastic this time, Lauren shifted to her knees. Nick rubbed his oily hands across her ass, giving a quick, playful slap before plunging back inside.

Her body blissfully overrode her brain and she was able to lose herself completely. The pearl strands taut against her sensitive clit shook and quivered with each thrust. The slow building orgasm threatened to push her over the edge more times than she could count but it was the sound of Nick’s approaching finish that finally sent her beyond the brink. With a shudder, she collapsed on her forearms as Nick slammed hard inside her. Through the waves of pleasure, she faintly realized they’d never actually orgasmed together.

“Holy shit, Wren!” he exclaimed through gritted teeth. She was surprised to feel the pulses in his cock as he fired deep inside her.

Lauren curled up on her side, Nick wrapping his arms around her from behind. She was surprised by the emotions and conflict that flooded to the surface. How could she feel such pleasure and such loneliness all at the same time? As Nick rocked her from behind, tears welled in her eyes. She had wanted passion, emotion, caring. She’d hoped to show him what he meant to her yet with a relationship apparently largely based on fucking, what more could she have expected? It wasn’t his fault. It was hers.

“I couldn’t be happier,” he said nuzzling into her hair.

Lauren managed a weak smile and nodded.
A step in the right direction but boy, do we have a lot of work to do...

12.

The next morning, Nick gently roused Lauren with a kiss on her forehead. Lauren’s eyes fluttered open, surprised to see his face above, momentarily forgetting he’d spent the night. Her expression must’ve betrayed a hint of her confusion.

“Hey baby, I got us breakfast. I figured you’d be starving after last night,” he said with a wink. “We’ve got the apartment to ourselves still. Come on out to eat when you’re ready.”

After Nick’s steps retreated down the hall, Lauren stretched and took in her surroundings. The windows were lit with what passed for morning light in the dark bedroom. The towels and baby oil were a heap in the center of the room, her heels discarded on the side. She winced as she noticed the panties Ali bought her balled up on the floor.
How am I ever going to get the oil out of those? There is no way I’m taking them to the cleaners!

Lauren couldn’t shake a feeling of melancholy and didn’t understand why she wasn’t happier. Despite the night they’d spent together, she couldn’t pinpoint the faint niggle in the back of her mind that something was wrong. Sure, their relationship wasn’t back to normal and last night hadn’t gone exactly how she’d wanted, but it was progress. Maybe she was just in a grumpy mood. Maybe she just needed some caffeine.

She found Nick at the kitchen island scrolling through his phone. He set it down when she walked in, his face brightening in a way she hadn’t seen in a very long time.

“There she is!” He wrapped his arms around her tightly, kissing the top of her head. “I went out and got those breakfast burritos from that place on Broadway I know you like. Here.”

He proudly plopped two foiled burritos and a latte in front of her, like a hunter displaying his quarry.

“You even went to Joe’s?”

“Only the best!”

“Thanks hon, that’s really sweet of you.”

The burrito was amazing, the coffee exactly what she needed. Everything started to feel normal, better than normal. They sipped their coffee, laughed, and enjoyed the fact that no one had to rush away at any point. It occurred to her that the previous night was about reconnecting physically. Now, like the showers they typically took together, they were now reconnecting emotionally. Things were going so smoothly between then Lauren found it difficult to repress a question that’d been burning in the back of her mind for months.

Setting down the now cold latte, she took a deep breath.

“Oh no, that’s not a good sign,” Nick said. He was leaning against the counter in their kitchen. The fact that he was shirtless made the question she wanted to ask feel even more ridiculous.

“I never got the chance to bring this up before our fight,” Lauren started. It was rare for her to begin a sentence without knowing where it was going to end, so she paused and started over. “Okay, wait. Let me start over. I need to know something and we don’ have to talk about it any further, okay? I’ll just ask you a couple simple yes or no questions and you can answer. After that, we can just move on with our day.”

“Alright,” he replied crossing his arms.
God, I thought I needed courage last night,
she thought as she looked into his questioning eyes.

She took a deep breath and exhaled shakily. “Were you planning on asking me to marry you the night we had the fight?”

His expression froze, his eyes searching her face for a clue as to where this was coming from. Finally, he subtly squinted at her and smirked. “Yes.”

Nearly quivering with nerves, Lauren nodded slowly. “Okay...did you actually buy an engagement ring?”

Nick’s smirk broadened into a smile. He stepped forward and placed both hands on the island, leaning toward her. Locking eyes he said simply, “Maybe.”

“Yes or no answers!” Lauren cried.

“That’s all you’re gonna get for that question. Any others?”

“One more.” It was overwhelming. Hearing him talk about marriage, their night together, how natural everything felt now. Choking up she asked, “Is there still a chance?” She didn’t know where they came from, but suddenly hot tears were streaming down her face.

“Oh babe,” he said, rushing over and taking her in his arms. She buried her face in his chest with shuddering breaths. “Of course there is, don’t be silly! How could you think that?”

“I don’t know...I know we have a lot to work through but I guess,” she sniffed, “I guess I just needed to know if you still saw that as an option for us. Not now, of course, but in the future.”

He held her face in both hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs. “Do you think it’s an option?”

She paused before saying, “Yes.”

Nick kissed her wet cheeks and hugged her again. “It’s always been an option. It’ll always be an option.
You
are not an option, though.
You
are a given.” Those words sparked a fresh round of tears as he held her tightly. After a moment he continued, “I’ll go get you a cold wash cloth, okay? You stay right there.”

Lauren took a few calming breaths and shut her eyes. She really didn’t want to talk about their future together or marriage or anything like that, but knowing they were still on that same track after such a rough patch felt great. She wanted to continue this amazing morning and had an idea.
I wonder if the weather will be nice enough for us to go relax in the park?
Grabbing Nick’s phone off the counter, she went to check the weather but was stopped short. As she frowned at the phone, Nick returned with the wet cloth. His face dropped when he saw what she held in her hand.

“Since when do you have a passcode?” Lauren asked, more bewildered than upset.

“Oh, uh, some people at the shop have been messing around with everyone’s phones, pranks and stuff. It’s safer this way,” he said handing her the wash cloth and taking the phone. “What did you need on it anyway?”

Lauren pouted for a moment but carried on. “I just wanted to check if it was going to rain. Do you want to head up to the park or something? Or if it is raining, maybe a movie?”

“Yeah, that sounds great. Why don’t you go get your sexy ass dressed and we can head out. I’ll check the weather and let you know what we’re doing in a minute, okay?”

Lauren silenced the tiny alarm bell that was ringing in her mind.
Whatever happened in the past...Landon, Rose...it’s remaining in the past.
We’re starting over with a clean slate and if we have any hope, we have to trust each other.

13.

Lauren rolled over to her right and lifted Nick’s heavy arm over her shoulders, wiggling into his arms and against his chest. He mumbled something in his sleep as he stirred, settling once she was still. With a satisfied sigh, she dozed another twenty minutes before he nudged her awake.

“Babe, what time is it?” he said drowsily. Lauren looked around the room groggily, unable to even guess from the light in the room. She grabbed her phone off the nightstand to check but found the screen dark.

“I don’t know, my phone’s dead. What’s it matter anyway? It’s Sunday,” she said stretching her arms above her head.

He laughed. “No it isn’t, yesterday was Sunday.”

Lauren shot up in bed, suddenly remembering that it was indeed Monday, the room was much brighter than it normally was when she got up. She jumped to the bathroom and hit the light. Darkness.

“Fuck! The power is out!” Frantically searching the room, which amounted to tossing clothes around and spinning in circles. Lauren cried, “Don’t we have anything that
isn’t
electronic? Don’t people own watches anymore?”

“Calm yourself, lemme check my phone,” he said reaching into his jeans. “Shit, you are late. It’s almost eleven thirty.”

Lauren’s jaw dropped. “Are you fucking kidding me? Damnit, you know I hate being late!” She rushed around getting dressed. Grabbing the closest shirt and pair of jeans, Lauren flew around the room in record time. She splashed a little water against her face in the bathroom, stared at her reflection in the dark for a moment and muttered, “Screw the makeup.”

“You have flexi-time, what are you worried about?”

She jumped on the bed, landing on her knees and gave Nick a huge kiss. “I know, but I still have a lot of stuff to get done. Have a good day. I’ll text you later!”

As she rushed out the door, Lauren found Jess in the kitchen. “Power’s out,” she called over.

“I know, it’s my fault,” Jess replied. “I’m trying to get it switched back on. I’m on hold.”

Lauren paused with the door open in her hand. “What do you mean it’s your fault?”

“I think I forgot to pay the bill. It’s no big deal.”

“You’re kidding me, right? They don’t just shut the power off after one missed payment. What have you been doing with the money we’ve been giving you for utilities?”

Jess shrugged and walked to the sofa, phone to her ear.

“Un-fucking-believable. Alright Jess, let me know if I can help,” she said running out the door.
If Nick and I hadn’t had such a good weekend, that would’ve seriously screwed up my morning.

Fortunately for Lauren, her newly mended relationship with Nick sustained her throughout the increasingly difficult day. It was all she really needed in life, just a win here and there to keep her going through the tough parts. Knowing that their future was back on track, that she had his support and love, she could push through a lot.

She grabbed a cab just outside their apartment, getting in just after noon full of apologies. Ready to help with the crisis of the day, Lauren was met with a calm and fully functioning office.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Lauren said to Faith in the kitchen. “Our power was out and my phone’s dead. Stupid roommate didn’t pay the electric bill, just ugh.” She took a deep breath as she stood still for the first time all morning. “How are you? How was your weekend?”

“Tragic. That’s all I’m gonna say about that. I’m more interested in how things went with Nick,” she said poking her in the ribs.

Lauren flushed a little as she remembered the naughty way she’d surprised him. “Yeah, it was good. It went really well, actually. We had a good night Saturday night then spent all yesterday just relaxing, slept in, went to the movies.”

“Did you get a chance to talk about everything or was it just back to normal?”

“We talked, not much, but the topic of marriage did come up...”

“You’re getting married?” Faith asked, her face brightening.

“Not yet, but the option’s there. Haven’t set a date or anything, so don’t get too excited.”

Faith sighed deeply and leaned her head against the cupboard. The walking embodiment of a hopeless romantic, Faith loved everything to do with love. “Oooh, you two were so meant to be. You have to go through the hardships to really make things solid, you know? Test the relationship before you commit to getting married. I have to admit, I was a little worried for you.”

Lauren was surprised to feel giddy excitement as she talked about potential wedding plans. It’d never been something she was particularly infatuated with but gushing about it with Faith was fun.

“What did you think of the Brazilian?” Faith asked with a smirk. “Crazy what we do for men, isn’t it?”

“Holy hell, you weren’t kidding. When she had me get on my knees—”

“Lauren, sorry to interrupt, but I really need you for a minute,” said Amit, his head poking around the corner of the kitchen. He looked just embarrassed enough to have heard some of the conversation.

“Yeah, of course!” She waved to Faith and followed Amit back to his desk where Rochelle looked pretty panic-stricken. “What’s going on?”