Page 139 of No Rings Attached
Ellie’s expression softened, as she cupped my jaw. Her fingers dug into my beard. “Then we build a life that fits both of us. We don’t file off the edges. We learn how we fit together.”
I turned my face to kiss the center of her palm.
Wanting her hit fast and hard—the kind that had weight and gratitude and a little panic threaded through it. If we only had through this weekend, I wanted each day to count.
She must have felt the shift. “I know I said we should be cautious about PDA at work,” she whispered, her smile turning wicked, “but lunch break is technicallynotpublic.”
I was on my feet before she finished her sentence, locking the door out of muscle memory alone.
“And we had talked about acting out that scene I’d read to you last night. So maybe …”
I tugged at my tie.
“What note should I put on your calendar so we’re not disturbed?” she asked.
“Put busy. We’re less likely to be interrupted.”
Her eyes darkened.“Lesslikely?”
I wasn’t about to tell her that if we had the door closed no one would interrupt us. The office knew I closed it when I was in the zone to show I didn’t want to be disturbed. I’d never mentioned it to Ellie because it just hadn’t come up. Now I was glad to have that little secret.
I pointed at her laptop. “Calendar.”
She bit her lip and shot a quick glance at the door. “Let’s live dangerously.”
God, I loved her. I could finally admit that to myself.
And I loved that she shared her writing with me. I had a very healthy appreciation for the fact she was writing a workplace romance and liked to make sure her scenes were authentic.
We both made our way to my desk and glanced at my laptop, and the neat stack of notes beside it. In her latest scene, the hero swept everything to the floor in a moment of passion. We stared at the electronics and burst out laughing.
I moved the laptop and papers carefully to a nearby chair. “Pretend I was reckless.”
She grinned. “I don’t have to pretend. You’re already giving me the reckless parts—the ones that matter.”
We both looked at the small notebook and pen left on the otherwise clean surface. I slightly improvised the line of her hero. “I need you.” Then I swept my arm across the desk sending the office supplies flying. Although, instead of the dramatic scene I imagined, the notepad plopped to the floor and the pen rolled a few times before stopping.
Very anticlimactic.
She slid her hands up to rest on my chest and laid her forehead between her flattened palms. Her shoulders shook with barely suppressed laughter. “Well, that was … something.”
I chuckled along with her. “I might not have the sexy moves of your hero?—”
Ellie’s eyes, full of mirth, met mine. She leaned in, her fingers grazing my jaw, sending a spark through me. “No,” she said, her voice low and sultry, “you’re sexier because you’re real.” She traced the edge of my bottom lip with her thumb. “You’re fun …” Her lips brushed mine, but didn’t fully kiss me. “... and being with you is easier than breathing.”
I cupped her waist, drawing her closer, our bodies flush.
“I love that we can laugh and it doesn’t ruin the mood. That it’s about the moment and what we’re going to share. Not just our bodies coming together for a physical release,” she added.
“I couldn’t agree more.” I kissed her forehead wanting to take my time and appreciate this moment.
She tugged at my tie. “Now where were we?”
“Let’s see.” My gaze skimmed down over her sexy curves. “The hero rips off her blouse, sending buttons flying, to feast on her breasts.”
She looked down at the brown sweater she wore. No buttons in sight. “We might need to improvise.”
“I’m good at improvising.” I slid my palms up under the knitted fabric, taking special care to go slow, to lightly caress her skin as I revealed each soft inch. Her fingertips gripped the edge of the desk as I placed a kiss on her rounded stomach. “I love every part of you,” I murmured, my breath ghosting against her skin.
