Beck shifted slightly, creating enough space between us to reach down and unfasten the button of his pants. As he began pulling down his zipper, I finally came to my senses. This has to stop. I pushed down on his chest with one hand. As I had suspected, it was rock hard.
Not surprisingly, my effort had zero effect. He didn’t budge an inch, but continued to open his zipper. If he wouldn’t move, I was going to have to. I leveraged the solid wall of his chest to push myself backward off of his body, and out of his reach.
“What?” He looked disappointed, chest still heaving, eyes still radiating desire my way.
“Come on, Beck, what the fuck is this? We’re in a restaurant for God’s sake.”
“We are. A closed booth in New York’s most discreet eatery, but if that bothers you, you know my apartment is a few blocks away, right? We can take the rest of the day off, and finish what we started.” He licked his lips sexily for effect. Not that he needed to, the message was received loud and clear without the lewd accompanying gesture.
“You’re not serious? I’m not going back to your place to spend the afternoon fucking. Are you out of your living mind?”
“What’s so outlandish about suggesting we go work off the tension that has so clearly been building between us since we came back into each other’s lives? It’s pretty obvious we want each other. Going back to my place to seal the deal is better than what we were about to do here, right?”
“Wrong. Well, no, it’s right, kind of. But those aren’t the only options. There’s a third way.”
“Which is?” There was a hint of snappiness in his voice.
“Which is that we behave like professionals, admit we made a mistake, and commit to never making it again.”
“I didn’t make a mistake, and from the way you’re still looking at me like I’m a cool breeze on a hot tropical afternoon, you didn’t either. As for never repeating it, I’ve always loved your sense of humor, but that’s one joke you won’t find me laughing it. And we both know it’s a joke. If we were going to stop we wouldn’t be here.
Let’s face it, from the moment I stepped out of the elevator on six, this—” he motioned between us for effect “— was so on. No amount of feeble denial on your part is going to change that, so if I were you, I’d just embrace it.”
Ugh. I didn’t know if he had always been so ridiculously arrogant, but I certainly didn’t remember him that way. At that point his cocksure attitude was as frustrating as it was arousing. The mix of emotions had me at once wanting to slap his face, and sit on it.
Thankfully I managed to get my wits about me enough to resist doing either. Instead, I straightened up fully, placing a lightly restraining hand on his chest, meeting his intense gaze. Looking him in the eye was a risky strategy—his return glare was so intense, so meaningful, and so unwavering that it threatened to break my newly established resolve.
I blinked a few times to refocus, confused as to how a single emotion-laden look could derail me. Almost. I took a deep breath and spoke slowly and firmly.
“Listen Beck, this is not happening. Not now, or at all. Okay, so we slipped up.”
“Three times.”
“Yes, we slipped up three times, and I guess we got some shit out of our systems that needed to be exorcised, but now that we’ve done that—three times—we’re going to move on as though it never happened. Are we clear?”
He didn’t answer, just flashed me an infuriating smirk that told me my words were flowing over him like water off a duck’s back, then he crashed his lips back onto mine. Just as I was about to protest, he pulled back, grinning like the cat that had gotten the entire dairy.
He was maddening, but before I had time to give him a piece of my mind, he had rung the bell to summon our waitress, and I was forced to right myself in my seat and straighten my clothes, seething as I did so.
If Tyler “Beck” Beckett thought this was the end, he was sorely mistaken and had most definitely underestimated the woman I had grown into. I’d fought and overcome far fiercer opponents in the past. He might have won this particular battle, but I sure as shit wasn’t going to roll over and let him win the war.
Beck
I sauntered back into my office at BR&ND to be greeted by the unexpected sight of Nate sitting on one of my couches. He had his back to me, but just from the set of his shoulders, I could telle he wasn’t happy. This was all I needed right now. I just wanted to be left in peace, to lock the door and jerk off to images of Melissa riding my dick, wearing nothing by her stockings and garter belt. The thought was hot as shit. At this rate I was going to be permanently sporting wood until the end of my days.
“What’s eating you?” I addressed my question to his tense back.
“Where have you been?”
His tone was cold. What the fuck? I crossed the room, taking a seat in the empty couch opposite him. “What’s it to you? Since when were you my wife, or my keeper? Do you want me to hand over my phone so you can see who I’ve been messaging, too?”
“Not kidding man. Where have you been?” The pulse in his jaw ticked, and I knew he was serious.
“Lunch. And before you ask, yes, it was with Melissa.”
Nothing from him. His silence was always deadlier than his words. Today was no exception. After a long and uncomfortable pause, he finally spoke again.
“Where did you take her?” Of all the questions.
“Ayami.”
“Mother of all fucks, Beck! You’re kidding me, right?”
“Why would I be kidding?” I deadpanned.
“Because we told you not to fuck this up, and you promised not to. If you had any intention of keeping that promise, taking the woman you’ve been holding a torch for over the past twelve years to the sexiest restaurant in the city for a little afternoon delight would obviously not have been a viable option.”
“Ah, yeah, right, I see. About our little ‘agreement’ — you remember I basically told you I’d be doing what the fuck I wanted, and I’d resign if I had to? Well, I’m not going to stop pursuing her. I can tender my resignation right now if it makes the rest of you feel any better.”
“Jesus, dude, does your arrogance know no fucking bounds? Are you literally going to screw us all over and not even think twice?” That wasn’t fair
“Arrogance? Is that a goddamned joke? Coming from you, or any one of you guys for that matter? Pot, meet deluded kettle. This company was built on the back of the arrogance of the four of us. If it wasn’t for that, plus our sheer grit and determination to win, not to mention our not inconsiderable life savings, we wouldn’t be here having this conversation right now.”
“You’re absolutely right,” he ground out bitterly.
“Yet you’re telling me you’d walk away from it all for this woman?”
“Yesterday, and without even a second glance. I’d take a match to the whole place if I had to.” I wished I was more sorrier about it than I was, or that it was more of a difficult decision to make, but she was the most important thing in my life bar none.
“Fuck you!” He struck the table angrily, before jumping from his seat, looking at me expectantly, as though waiting for me to retract my words on the basis of his outburst.