Gently, I clean her up, smiling the whole time as I stare at my come all over her pink little pussy.
“You’re proud of your work, aren’t you?”
“Belongs in the Louvre.”
She dies laughing the second the words leave my mouth.
I glance over at her, trying to keep a straight face, and my shoulders start to bounce. I can’t stop myself.
“You were critiquing it in your mind like an art critic, weren’t you?”
“Absolutely not.”
Karli breaks into this absolutely terrible posh British accent. “Perfect lines and symbolism representative of the Rococco period.”
That breaks me. I laugh hysterically and manage to say, “I thought it would be the audible joke paradox, but it actually translates well to the spoken medium.”
Now she’s the one cracking up.
I could watch her laugh like this the rest of my life.
I wipe the rest of the come off her, then fall over on the bed next to her, laughing. It feels like we just giggle for hours. It’s perfect. Everything about tonight has been perfect.
I want to fuck her again, but we’re both so damn spent. She nuzzles into my shoulder, and before long, I hear light snores coming from her nose. They’re adorable and cute, and when I look down, she still has that same smile on her face, even though she’s passed out on my arm.
It’s in that moment I realize things just got very real.
This was more than a good date and hot sex.
This is something entirely different than what I’m used to.
There are feelings involved, which means people can get hurt.
Strangely, I don’t give a fuck. I pull her closer to me and kiss her sleeping forehead.
I meant it earlier and I mean it even more now.
She’s fucking mine.
8
Karli
The past week or so has been a blur. Blake has me working on the Brian Hedgeman and Jerry Knox account non-stop, and I haven’t had much time with Matthew, outside of late-night sex and falling asleep right after, usually at his place. He’s always in meetings, dealing with high-level priorities while I’m stuck at my cubicle, doing the grunt work.
It hasn’t been nearly as awkward as I imagined. Everyone around the office actually seems to be pretty accepting of it, even though I’m sure some people discuss it when nobody is around. I’ve told Matthew repeatedly I have to focus, though. This new partnership between Knox and Hedgeman is moving fast—really fast.
It’s been in the works for a while, but there are huge implications with the clients if it leaks right now. Decker and Dexter are borderline maniacal about the secrecy, always talking about how the information has to be released according to their strategy.
Every single meeting is behind closed doors with curtains drawn. We’re coordinating with a few other firms doing some specialty work, copyrights and IP law, and everything is done with encrypted phones and apps. That’s how insane it is. I don’t know how much longer it can be kept under wraps, especially now that we’re about to start filing for business entities and making things official, but I’ll be damned if I’m the one who allows this thing to go public.
I groan a little internally when I see Blake strolling toward my cubicle. He walks a fine line between harassing and charming, with everyone at the firm. He seems perfectly competent at his job, he’s just—yeah. One of those guys.
I plaster on a fake smile when he’s a few feet away and turn to greet him.
“How’s everything coming along?”
“Great, just going over some of the LLC documents for the various companies.”
He smiles and leans in a little, bumping my chair with his hip. I’m pretty sure it’s on purpose. He knows Matthew and I are together. I think that’s what makes it even worse—borderline creepy.
“Nice.” He draws out the syllable.
It’s so utterly obvious he’s trying to flirt I have to fight back a laugh. He’s like a drunk guy in a bar who oversells everything when he’s trying to hit on you. It’s just worse because Blake’s sober, at least I think—or would hope.
“All right.” He holds up both hands like he just did something wrong by questioning me. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Just wanted to check in, see how you’re doing. If there’s anything you need.” His eyes drift down to my legs when he says the last part.
“Nope, I’m perfectly fine right now.” I have to bite back my irritation.
“I see that.” He winks and walks off. “Keep it up.”
Ugh.
Men.
I don’t think he realizes he might actually be kind of cute if he weren’t such a douche. Why do men think that’s attractive behavior?
He’s nothing like Matthew. Matthew is a smartass, sure, but he’s real. There’s a sort of self-deprecation behind it, like he knows what he’s doing and knows his boundaries. A self-awareness that makes it endearing, at least now.
I jolt in my seat when a pair of hands find my shoulders after what just happened.
“What the…”
The hands immediately let go. “You okay?”
I turn in my chair and smile as soon as I see him, along with exhaling a huge sigh of relief. “God, yes. Sorry, just startled me. I thought you were—” I stop mid-sentence.
Matthew’s jaw clenches and his hands ball into fists. “Thought I was what?”
I shake my head, trying to smile even harder to lighten the mood. “Nothing.”
His head starts to bob a little, like the realization is coming to him. I wish he wasn’t so damn intelligent at reading the room sometimes.
“Did he do something?”
I swear I can hear his teeth grinding together.
“It’s fine. I promise.”
His eyes narrow on mine.
“I can take care of myself, and it’s just…” I glance around for some reason. “Just normal guy shit, nothing serious.”
He leans down dangerously close to my ear. “If he does anything, I want to fucking know about it.”
I stand up and playfully shove him away with a hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy, caveman. He just flirted a little, that’s all.”
“I don’t give a shit. He knows you’re with me. Everyone fucking knows.” He says it under his breath so nobody can hear, but I can feel the anger in his voice.
I stand there, shaking my head, trying to diffuse the situation with humor. “Who knew Matthew Graham could be so jealous.”
A little of the red disappears from his cheeks, and I’d be lying if I didn’t think it was really hot the way he looked there for a second. I shouldn’t like it, but I do. It’s ridiculous.
“It’s not a matter of jealousy. It’s disrespectful.”
I start to put a hand on his chest but stop myself because we’re in the middle of the office. Sure, maybe everyone knows, but it doesn’t mean I have to remind people I’m falling for Matthew, that we’re an item. “If something serious happens, you’ll be the first to know. But I really don’t think I’m in any danger.” I lean a little closer and lower my voice. “Yeah, he’s a douche, but he’s not… I don’t know. He’s not a threat.”