Wait for Me (14 page)

“Dammit.”  Lucas raked his hands through is hair and growled with the unfairness of it all.  Hadn’t he suffered enough?  He’d lost his career, his identity and after one weekend with Emma, Lucas felt as if he’d lost his privacy.

And the girl.

“Just another twenty-four hours,” he reminded himself, “and I can go back to my own damn life.”  It seemed like a simple enough goal and one that he was surely going to be able to achieve.

****

Emma was working late on Friday night.  Everyone had gone home but there were still some things that she wanted to get caught up on from her time off.  There wasn’t much to do but it was all tedious and time consuming.  Her stomach growled and she cursed herself for not order
ing dinner earlier.  There was always take out on the way home, she thought.

By eight o’clock she could barely see straight.  Her fil
ing was done, her computer files backed up and the spreadsheets that Mr. Montgomery was going to need for a trip the following week were all prepared, copied and collated.  All in all it had been a successful night.  Emma stood and stretched and nearly screamed the place down.

“Lucas!  You scared me half to death!  What are you still doing here?”  She placed a hand over her heart hoping to slow down its frantic rhythm in her chest.

He stood dumbfounded by the sight of her.  “Sorry,” he said gruffly, “I thought everyone was gone.”

“So did I,” she snapped.  He had stayed the week.  In all of the years she’d worked for Montgomery’s, Lucas had never stayed a full week.  Why did he have to
choose to start now?

“Why are you working so late, Emma?” he asked, stepping closer to her desk; closer than he’d allowed himself to get to her all week.  “It’s not safe for you to be here all by yourself.”

Emma wanted to laugh at his words.  She’d worked late countless times before; the only thing that made this situation unsafe was the fact that she was alone with Lucas and didn’t trust herself not to throw herself at him.  “I’m fine, Lucas,” she said softly.  “I had actually just finished up and was getting ready to leave.”

“Oh,” he said and then seemed to stop to consider something.  “Just give me five minutes and I’ll walk you to your car.”

“That’s not necessary; really.  Like I said, I do this all the time and there are security guards down by the garage.  Go and finish what you have to do.”  She was talking faster than usual and gathering her belongings as she spoke.  There was no doubt that Lucas would be able to tell that she was nervous but if she could just make a quick exit, Emma knew she’d be okay.

“It’s not negotiable, Emma.  I know that my brothers
would do the same thing when you’re all working late.”

There was no arguing with that, but she wanted to.  With an agitated sigh she said, “Fine.  I’ll wait while you finish up.”  Watching Lucas turn and walk away she counted to ten and then quietly moved about the office gathering
the rest of her things.  His office was at the end of the hall and one of the furthest from the elevators.  Emma knew she was acting childish but she didn’t like having Lucas dictate to her what she needed to do and when.   Just because he’d slept with her didn’t give him that right.

Tiptoeing, she made her way quickly towards the bank of elevators and
pressed the down button and prayed that the ding wasn’t as loud as she thought it was.  “C’mon,” she whispered, bouncing on the balls of her feet, anxious to get in the elevator and away from Lucas.

“Going somewhere?”  This time
she not only screamed but she must have jumped a good foot in the air.  He was directly behind her and he spoke softly right into her ear.

“Dammit, Lucas!  Why would you
do
that?”  Emma rounded on him, her eyes full of fury. 

“You told me that you’d wait and as soon as I walked away, you were sneaking out!” he lashed back. 

“And I told you that I didn’t need you to walk me out!  Amazingly enough, Lucas, I have managed to get myself down to the parking garage, alone, for quite some time without you!”

Something i
n him snapped.  Reaching out he grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her closer.  “I am so sick and tired of you fighting everything that I say and do, Emma, you know that!  Did it ever occur to you that I’m concerned?  Did it ever cross your mind that maybe, just maybe some of the things I say are for your own benefit?”  Without waiting for answer, he pulled her toward his office.

“Wait!  What are you doing?  The elevator just got here!”  Emma’s words fell on deaf ears.  Lucas pulled her into his office and gently pushed her into one of the chairs facing his desk.  “This is just ridiculous,” she said angrily.  “You can’t just shove me around, Lucas!  You may be my boss but you have no right to treat me this way.”

She was right.  Lucas knew that she was right and yet ever since their weekend together, wherever Emma was concerned, logic and reason ceased to exist for him.  When she made to stand up Lucas simply relaxed more into his own chair.  “If you walk out that door I’ll simply bring you back.”

Emma was seething with rage at this point.  “So what’s the plan here?  I just sit here in submission until you’re ready to leave?  That’s kind of sick even for you, Lucas.”

She was baiting him but he refused to be baited.  He had no idea why he’d dragged her to his office.  The right thing to have done was to follow her into the elevator when it had arrived and walked her to her car and then come back up here to finish his work.  Scrubbing a hand over his weary face, he let out an equally weary sigh.

“Why are you still here, Lucas?” she finally asked.

“Working late, just like you.”

“That’s not what I mean.  Why are you still here, a week after you dropped me off.  You’ve never stayed for a full week.  What’s going on?”

Standing, Lucas came around the desk and stood in front of her.  He’d been miserable all week.  He’d thought of her.  All week.  He’d tried to leave a dozen different times throughout the week but always found some feeble excuse to stay.  He was tired and frustrated and frustrated with being tired. 

“I can’t leave,” he finally admitted and felt his entire body sag with relief.

Emma stared up at him, confusion written all over her face.  “I don’t understand; why?  Is it because of the project you’ve been working on?”

Lucas snorted with disbelief.  “I can do that project in my sleep so
no; it has nothing to do with the project.”  Reaching down, he took hold of one of Emma’s hands and tugged her gently to her feet. 

“Then what is it?” she whispered, her eyes lingering on his lips.

“It’s you,” he said simply as he lowered his head to hers and claimed her lips as he’d ached to do all week long. 

Emma was o
n board immediately and he heard her drop the purse she carried to the floor right before her arms tangled around his neck.  She sighed his name and pressed closer to him.

“I can’t sleep for wanting you; I can’t concentrate for wanting you,” he was trailing his lips down the slender column of her throat and lingered at the sweet spot right below her ear that he knew drove her wild.  “I tried to stay away; I honestly did but I couldn’t do it anymore.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” she admitted right before letting out a sexy growl at what he was doing.  “I didn’t want you to stay away.”

What followed was madness.  Lucas pushed her wool coat from her body and let it fall to the floor.  His hands roamed up and down her back and then lingered on her firm bottom and pulled her flush against him so that she could feel his arousal.  “I want you, Emma,” he said fiercely.  “Let me have you.”

No words had ever sounded sweeter and in that moment, Emma would have given him anything.  She frantically looked around for a place for them.  “The sofa, Lucas,” she panted and then pulled him with her while he continued to nibble and taste her skin. 

Emma couldn’t believe this was happening.  She was going to make love to Lucas right here in his office.  It was something that she’d secretly fantasized about probably one hundred times but doing this, right here, right now, was better than anything she’d ever imagined.

His hands ignited a million fires within her and all she wanted was to growl with frustration at how long he was taking.  “Lucas, please.”  Emma kicked her shoes off but her movements were limited by the long skirt she wore. 

By now they were reclined on the sofa with Lucas’s big body pinning hers to the cushions.  He lifted his head and looked at her.  “You are so beautiful,” he said reverently
and then paused.  “I don’t want to do this,” he admitted and watched disappointment cloud her features.  He instantly corrected himself.  “I mean, I want to do this but I want us to be someplace private where there’s a bed.  I don’t want to just take you on the office couch.  I have more self control than that.”

A wicked smile crossed Emma’s face.  “Self control is highly overrated.”

****

Emma woke the following morning alone and cursed.  Some time after midnight they’d arrived at her place and after eating some drive-thru burgers and fries, they’d picked up where they’d left off in Lucas’s office.  Emma sighed with frustration.

“Bastard,” she muttered as she kicked the blankets from her body and went to snatch her robe from her closet.  “I cannot believe that he would just slink off without even saying goodbye.”  She was good and mad now and nearly yanked the bedroom door off its hinges in her haste to escape.

And stopped cold.

There, in her kitchen, bare chested and more handsome than any man had a right to be, stood Lucas.  He looked at Emma over his shoulder and gave her one of his most sincere and sexiest smiles. 

“What are you doing?” she asked, puzzled by the sight of him in her kitchen.

“I was hoping to surprise you with breakfast,” he said lightly.  “I thought for sure you’d sleep in a little longer.”

Emma blushed.  They had barely slept more than a couple of hours the entire night, so often had they reached for each other.  She knew that she was exhausted and figured Lucas must be feeling the same.  “What are you making?” she asked hesitantly as she slowly made her way toward him.

“French toast.  I hope you don’t mind.”  He went back to the task at hand and smiled when Emma came to stand behind him and kissed his shoulder. 

“How could I possibly mind?  What can be more perfect than waking up to someone making me breakfast?”

“I was hoping that it was going to be breakfast in bed but you woke up too soon.”

“Hey, I can easily go back to bed and just wait,” she said saucily and turned to go back toward the bedroom when Lucas grabbed her around the waist and hauled her against him. 

Kissing her thoroughly, he reluctantly released her.  “Give me less than five minutes and we’ll bring it in there together.”  True to his word, he was placing their plates on a makeshift tray while Emma grabbed their coffee. 

Lucas walked ahead of her and Emma noticed that something was wrong.  “Lucas?” she queried.  “Are you okay?”

He kept walking and didn’t answer her until they were both in the bedroom and began getting situated.  “It’s been a long time since I’ve sex standing up like we did last night,” he gave her a sexy grin, “multiple times.  My knee is just a little sore today.”  His tone was light but Emma was beginning to know Lucas better and wasn’t entirely sure that he was telling her the truth. 

Emma climbed on to the bed and Lucas handed her the tray and then walked around to the other side and joined her.  She handed him his plate and they began to eat in silence.  Lucas was no fool; he knew that Emma was concerned and wanted nothing more than to distract her from obsessing about his knee; he knew he was doing his best not to think about it.

“So,” he began, “what do you have planned for today?”

She finished chewing the buttery piece of French toast and said, “Actually, I was planning on hitting IKEA today; I need a bookshelf for the guest room and that’s a major excursion.  I had planned on spending the afternoon there.”

“For a bookshelf?” he asked incredulously.

“Have you ever been to an IKEA?”  Lucas shook his head.  “It’s like a furniture and gadget mega store.  I’ve been known to get lost in there.”

Lucas chuckled.  “Sounds like you may need some help to get around.”

Emma beamed at him.  “Are you offering to make sure that I don’t get lost?”

“Well, I hate to think of store security having to go searching for you.”  His tone was light and playful and he loved the way that Emma responded to it. 

“That’s very generous of you,” she teased back.  “But are you sure?  You don’t seem like a shopping kind of guy.”

Lucas shrugged.  “I’ve got nothing else planned for today and I thought that maybe after we went on a bookshelf expedition that we could maybe go out to eat.”

“You mean like a date?”

He nodded and suddenly felt a little vulnerable.  Was he really going to keep this relationship – for lack of a better word – going?  There was no future for them, why was he prolonging the inevitable?  “If you would rather not…”

“Oh, no, it’s not that it’s just…” she nodded toward his attire.

“I am most definitely going to need a change of clothes today,” he said with a small laugh.  “Probably before we even go shopping.”