What He Wants (4 page)

“Come in,” he said, waving his hand at
me.

I walked toward his desk, making sure to
place my feet carefully and take tiny steps.
  
The last thing I wanted was to stumble in front of
Noah Cutler.

“Your name?” he asked.
 
He leaned back in his chair and folded
his hands together on his lap.
 
I
stared at him.
 
Was he really going
to pretend that he hadn’t just had sex with me a few hours ago?

I cleared my throat.
 
“Mr. Cutler, I think we… I just want
you to know that –”

“What.
 
Is.
 
Your.
 
Name?”

“Charlotte.”
 
I was stunned.
 
Did he really not remember?
 
Or was he messing with me?
 
I had a flash back to the way he whispered in my ear, asked me what my
name was before he left.
 
I
remembered the way he slid into me, the way he felt buried inside of me, the
rhythm of his hips as he fucked me.
 
My face burned.

“Well, Charlotte,” he said.
 
“I’m sure Worthington has briefed you
on my case?”

“Not.. I mean, he just told us you might
be charged with murder.”
 
Maybe he
was going to just pretend the whole thing had never happened.
 
Which, honestly, would be a relief.

The thought of being charged with murder
seemed to amuse him.
 
“Yes.”
 
He nodded.
 
“And I can count on your complete discretion as it pertains
this matter?”

“Yes.
 
Yes, of course.”

“Good.”
 
He nodded.
  
Then he stood up and walked around to the front of the desk.
 
He sat down on the edge so that he was
mere inches from where I was sitting.
 
He didn’t say anything for a moment.
 
I looked down at the floor and twisted my hands in my
lap.
 
“Stop fidgeting,” he
commanded.
 
My hands settled.
 
“Look me in the eye.”

I looked at him.
 
The electricity that flowed through me
felt all-consuming, a surge that took my breath away.
 
His closeness was intoxicating.
 
I could still feel his hands on me, his dick inside me, his
fingers, his mouth, his presence, his dominance.
 

“I have your discretion?” he repeated
again.

“Yes.” I nodded.
 

“In all things?”

“Of course.”
 
If he was talking about what had happened in the alley, he
didn’t have to worry about me saying anything.
 
There was no way I was going to admit that to anyone.

“Good.”
 
He reached out and took my hand, turning it over to inspect
my wrist.
 
The X was still there.
 

I tried to snatch my hand back,
embarrassed.
 
But he held me
tight.
 
“You left the X,” he said.

“I didn’t have a chance to wash it
off.”
 
The pad of his thumb traced
a slow circle over my pulse point, and I was afraid he’d be able to tell how
fast my heart was beating.
 

He raised his gaze to mine, looking at me
from under lowered lids.
 
“That
means you’re still mine.”

“Oh.”
 
I tried to take my wrist back, and this time, he let
me.
 
“I…”

“Stand up, please,” he said.

It was automatic.
 
I stood up.
 
He looked me up and down, his eyes stormy, like maybe he was
displeased with me.
 
And even
though it made no sense, even though I hardly even knew this man, in that
moment, all I wanted to do was please him.

“Bend over,” he said.

“Excuse me?” I spluttered.

He stood up from the desk and began to
roll up his sleeves.
 
“Bend over
the desk, please,” he said.
 

Fear and excitement pulsed through
me.
 
Was he going to fuck me
again?
 
I wanted him to so
badly.
 
My body was already ready,
my nipples hard, my panties starting to get wet.
 
But if I fucked him, there would be no way I could work with
him.

“Mr. Cutler,” I said.
 
“I don’t… that wouldn’t be
appropriate.”

“Now you’re worried about being
appropriate, Ms. Holloway?” he asked.
 
He moved close to me, so close I could feel his breath against my
cheek.
 
“After what we did
earlier?”

“That was.. that was different.”
 
My resolve was melting, and I tried to
take a step away from him.
 
He had
that same spicy scent of mint and expensive cologne.
 

“How?”

“That was before I was working for you.”

“You’re not working for me yet,” he said
simply.
 
“I still have to call
Worthington to let him know I’m comfortable with you.”

I stared at him in shock.
 
Was he seriously saying that if I
didn’t sleep with him, if I didn’t let him take me over the desk, that he
wasn’t going to hire me?
 
I’d heard
about this kind of thing happening, and even though I’d had the sense that my
male law school classmates had been taken more seriously than I had, I had
never been so blatantly propositioned like this.

And I didn’t care if it meant my law
school career was over.
 
I had my
boundaries.
 
And no matter how
badly I wanted him, I wouldn’t be made to feel like my job depended on my
willingness to have sex.

“I won’t be working for you, Mr. Cutler,”
I said, squaring my shoulders.
 
“Thank you for your consideration.
 
Good luck with your case.”

I turned and walked out of the room,
tears of humiliation burning at my eyes.

When I got to the reception area, Josh
was gone, and the receptionist was no longer at her desk.
 

Maybe Josh had gone downstairs.
 
But when I got outside, there was no
sign of him. And no sign of the car that had brought us here.

Great.

As I began to scan the street for a cab,
my cell phone started to ring.
 

“Charlotte,” the voice on the other end
said.
 
“It’s Worthington.”

“Professor,” I said, struggling to keep
my voice steady.
 
“I’m so
sorry.
  
I wasn’t trying to
–”

 
“I’m not sure what you said to Cutler, but he raved about
you.
 
Great job.
 
He wants you on the case.”

“Oh.”
 
I swallowed.
 
Was
it possible Noah Cutler had decided that since I’d stood up for myself that he
should hire me after all?
 
“That’s
great.
 
I’m so glad.
 
Um, is there anything Josh and I can do
tonight?”

“No,” he said.
 
“Josh isn’t going to be working with him.
 
Cutler didn’t get a good vibe.”

“Oh.”
 
My mouth went dry.
 
“So it’s just me then?”
 

“Yes,” he said.
 
“Just you.”

“Okay.
 
Um, is there anything I should do?”

“No, not right now.
 
He hasn’t been charged. But Noah Cutler
is his own worst enemy.
 
We’re
going to have to keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn’t mess up his own
case.
 
You got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

There was a call coming in on my other
line, so I said a quick goodbye to Worthington and answered the call.

“Charlotte?”
 
It was Noah Cutler.
 
I recognized the voice immediately.
 
Smooth, husky, with just a touch of amusement.

“How did you get this number?”

“I’ve heard you’ve been tasked with the
job of making sure I don’t get into trouble.”

“Yes,” I said, deciding to try to be
professional.
 
“You need to make
sure you stay out of this, that you let Professor Worthington take care of
things.”
 
I hoped I sounded like I
knew what I was talking about.
 
I
wished I knew more about the case, but if I’d learned anything these past few
months, it was that people thought law students were better seen and not heard.

The door to the office opened, and Noah
Cutler came walking out.
 
He hung
up his phone and gave me that grin.
 
“Oh, good,” he said.
 
“You’re still here.”

“Did you send the car away?”
 
How was he doing all of this?

“Yes.
 
That other kid was worthless.”

“Well, thanks,” I said, annoyed.
 
“Now I have no way home.”

“You’re not going home,” Noah said.
 
I noticed for the first time there was
a long black coat slung over his arm, and he was holding a briefcase.

“Then where am I going? “ I asked.

“With me.”

“Where?”

“To my apartment.”

“No.” I shook my head.
 
“I’m not having sex with you.”

He shook his head at me, like he couldn’t
believe I would be so presumptuous.
 
“No one said anything about having sex, Charlotte.
 
But you heard Worthington, I need to be
watched.
 
Otherwise I’m going to
get myself into trouble.”
 
His eyes
blazed, and a heady mix of heat and desire shot through my body. “I’m going to
need 24/7 supervision.”

His intent was clear.
 
He wanted me to come back to his
apartment.
 
For what, thought?
 
What was he going to be doing that
could get him into so much trouble?

Worthington’s words echoed through my
head.
 
Noah Cutler is his own worst enemy.
  
We’re going to have to keep an eye on him, make sure
he doesn’t mess up his own case.

“That’s impossible,” I said to Noah now,
shoving my chin into the air.
 
“I
can’t be around you twenty-four seven.”

“Why not?”
 
He moved forward, reached out and traced a line down my
chin, over my lips, down my collarbone.
 

His eyes blazed, cool and icy blue.
 
God, he was gorgeous.
 
I’d never seen a man this gorgeous up
close before.
 
I’d had sex with him!
 
He’d seen my half naked, he’d been
inside me.

I felt my face flame.

Noah leaned forward, his face just inches
from mine.
 
“Are you thinking about
what we did earlier, Charlotte?” he rasped.
 
“Because I am.”

I shook my head.
 
“No,” I lied.
 
“I’m not thinking about what we did earlier.”

“You’re not?” he pressed.
 
“You’re not thinking about what it felt
like to kiss me, how your body felt against mine, how my hands felt on
you?”
 
He was moving closer now,
his lips just inches from mine.
 
“Because I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

The pad of his thumb ran over my bottom
lip, and the sensation drove me almost insane with lust.
 

“Come back to my apartment,” he
said.
 
“We can do whatever you
want.”

“Whatever I want?” I repeated.

“Promise,” he said.
 
“We’ll do whatever you want.”

I knew it was a lie.
 
Noah Cutler wasn’t the kind of man who
gave up control to anyone.
 
He made
the rules.
 
He knew it.
 
I knew it.
 
And we both knew I was going to go back to his apartment
with him anyway.

***

By the time we got there, I’d gotten
control of myself.
 
I’d had the
chance to compose myself, and my heart had slowed just a tiny bit.

We took the elevator up to Noah’s
apartment, on the 39
^th
floor of an ultra-exclusive building right in
Midtown.

“I’m not going to sleep with you again,”
I said as the elevator began its ascent.
 
“It would be extremely unprofessional of me.”