Ask Me Something (The Something Series Book 2) (18 page)

Huh. I rather
liked that idea. I squeezed again and then rocked my hips up.

“Ah, Sash, do
you really think you can take charge?”

It was evident
I’d had a false sense of being able to do so when he held himself completely
still. I squirmed, craving more. But he had other ideas. His head dipped down,
taking one nipple in his mouth and then the other.

“Oh.” I reared
up trying to get him to move, but he wouldn’t budge. The only evidence of his
acknowledgement was the growing girth of his cock buried deep inside of me.
“You’re in charge,” I whispered roughly.

His eyes snapped
to mine, and I knew I’d given him what he wanted.

“Hold your legs
up by the knees and hang on.” His hips moved in perfect rhythm, but instead of
waiting on my orgasm like he normally did, he reached his first. I wasn’t sure
what to think until he pulled out, and his mouth descended into my cleft.

“Jesus, Bri, we
just had sex—” The protest died on my lips when he brought me quickly to my own
release with his tireless tongue. His lips lazily traveled up my stomach and
then his head lay there.

“Do you think
there’s anything that wouldn’t turn me on when it comes to you?” he murmured in
the darkness.

My fingers
stroked his hair, and I sighed, barely able to keep my eyes open. “I hope
that’s not a challenge?”

He lifted his
head and grinned. “Mm. Sleep, beautiful. Not everything needs to be.”

The mock pitch
had gone as expected in that the content had been on point, but we needed to
work on the transitions between Logan and Charlie. Charlie was one of my senior
managers and had been in the advertising business for seven years. He was a
family man who stayed calm under pressure and was easy to work with. Logan, on
the other hand, was young and trying to make a name for himself. Although I
admired a go-getter attitude, it had to be controlled, which is what I’d
coached him about earlier in the week. This wasn’t a one-man show. If we weren’t
all on the same team boosting one another, then there was no place for him.
He’d taken the criticism in stride, and I was pleased with his progress.

Brian came into
my office after the mock to share his thoughts and those of Josh in a recap
session. As always, he picked up on the details and nuances that would make the
pitch much better. Since he was part of this high-profile presentation, executing
the introductions, he and I needed to ensure we were on the same page, too. I
made my notes and knew we’d perfect it in the upcoming two weeks. “We’ll start
working on the changes come Monday.”

“I’m glad that
you’re not insisting on doing it today.”

Being in charge
sometimes meant I needed to take a step back and reward my staff instead of piling
on more work. “They did a good job today and should have the weekend off before
I crack the whip again.” Next week would mean long nights.

Sitting back in my
visitor’s chair, he regarded me. “Logan appears anxious to please you.”

I shrugged,
wondering what he was getting at. “That’s what anyone who wants to be
successful strives to do: make their boss happy.”

“But not
everyone wants to please you quite the way I think Logan does.”

I shot him a
warning look, not liking his tone or what he was implying. “You aren’t being
serious right now, are you?”

“I’m only making
an observation. That’s all.”

The hard look in
his eyes told me different. “Okay, because it sounded like you were implying
something inappropriate was going on.”

“You told Josh
that he was very attractive.”

My temper
started to rise. “Josh posed the question, and I answered. And yes, he is
attractive. It’s advertising, Brian. Everyone is good-looking, or if they’re
not, then they’re put together and have great personalities. We sell ourselves
in order to sell our services. That’s why you don’t want me parading young,
pretty associates in the pitch in front of what’s-her-face. And why I have to
be very careful to dress conservatively. Because looks matter in this
business.”

The truth was
that Logan was hot, but I didn’t personally find him attractive. Matter of fact,
I’d never been into any of my good-looking colleagues, with the exception of
the one sitting in front of me.

“I agree with
you, but he wants to fuck you, and that’s simply fact.”

My face heated. “Are
you kidding me? He does not. Where is this coming from?” I was exasperated and
wondering how the hell we’d started down this road.

He shook his
head. “I have a secret for you, Sasha. Men rank a woman in their head on a scale
of one to ten regarding how badly they’d like to sleep with her. Especially the
young, single guys.”

“I don’t need
this shit here. He may or may not want to sleep with me, but guess what? I only
have control over my thoughts. Not his and not yours. And if you’re going to
sit there and tell me that I need to act differently or that I’m somehow
encouraging it, you can walk your ass out of here. I’m not even all that nice
to him most of the time.” The more I thought about it, the more fired up I was
getting.

He smirked.
“Being tough on him only makes him want to fuck you more.”

“I can’t believe
we’re having this conversation. You do realize that you’re acting irrational,
right?”

His jaw clenched.
This side of him was so out in left field. “It’s very rational that Logan,
along with any other man who sees you, would want to sleep with you. The only
difference I’m pointing out is that he’s hoping it will happen on a daily basis.
Reasonable thought goes out the window when I have to watch a man trying to accomplish
that goal in front of me.”

“Is this the
point where I’m supposed to reassure you that isn’t ever going to happen?”

His laugh was
void of humor. “Only you would take a shot at my ego instead of boosting it at
this point.”

“If you need
your ego stroked over your misplaced jealousy, then you made an arrangement
with the wrong girl. Now, I have work to do.”

I could tell he
wanted to say something else on the subject by the barely restrained anger
reflecting in his eyes.

“Fine, I’ll let
you get back to work. I’m meeting with Mark for dinner, and then I’ll see you
back at your place later. I want you to wear those red, fuck-me shoes you have
on and nothing else. I’ll text you when I’m on my way so you can wait for me on
your knees in the middle of your bed.”

I sucked in my
breath and narrowed my eyes. “We’re not doing this here.” I didn’t know how I
could verbalize how that command in my office made me feel, but his words
incited my indignation.

“Do what,
exactly?”

“You’re dominant
in the bedroom because, frankly, I let you, and I like it. But you can’t come
in my office where I’m in charge and say something like that to me. I can’t mix
the lines like that. It pisses me off and makes me feel weird about being given
a sexual demand where I work. I—”

He got up,
clenched his jaw, and let out a breath. Moving closer toward me, he raked a
hand over his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t think about it. Obviously
I didn’t think about the entire conversation.”

I simply looked
at him. His eyes were full of regret, and all of my frustration evaporated
instantly. “Okay.”

“You were
preparing for a fight?” he questioned, studying me.

“Yes. Maybe. I
wasn’t sure if you’d get it.”

“I do, and I was
way out of line. Do you still want me to come over tonight?” He looked wary.

“Yes. You have
the key if I’m not there by the time you are. I have a spare if I arrive before
you.”

He glanced at me
one last time and then left my office.

***

When I got home,
I was thankful Brian hadn’t arrived yet. It gave me some time to get my
thoughts together. I’d felt off after what had transpired earlier and couldn’t
figure out why. I’d made my point, he’d apologized, so why was I feeling
uneasy? My phone rang with his number, and I picked up, expecting him to tell
me he was on his way.

“Hey,” I
answered.

“Hi,” he
responded, without saying anything else.

“Where are you?”

“I’m, uh,
heading up to Connecticut with Mark. I had planned to go in the morning and
thought maybe I’d go tonight instead.”

“Okay.” I swallowed
hard, trying not to get emotional.

“I crossed a
line today,” he said quietly.

“It was bound to
happen at some point with either of us.”

“Yeah, I guess.
I think it would be good for me to take the two weeks before we see each other
again. And maybe next time we have meetings or something big scheduled, not to
spend the night together beforehand. It obviously put me in a weird place today,
and I’m sorry.”

“You already
apologized, Brian.” I rubbed my temples and realized that this newfound arrangement
was not as easy as we’d hoped.

“I’ll, um, call
you later this week, okay?”

“All right. Have
a good weekend.”

Hanging up, I
fought the tears. I had no regrets when it came to establishing the boundaries,
especially in my office. However, it was clear I wasn’t the type of woman he
typically involved himself with. With other girls, he could truly be dominant
all of the time, whereas with me, he couldn’t. He’d most likely realized, or
soon would, that it wasn’t worth the effort. That I wasn’t able to give him
what he wanted. Sighing, I realized PMS was making me overly emotional, and
maybe this weekend alone might not be a bad thing.

***

I ended up
relieved that Brian had decided to spend the weekend with Mark because I
started my period on Saturday afternoon and was somewhat moody and bloated. I
used the majority of the day to plot out what I’d do with my parents next month
when they visited. The fact that they were making the effort meant the world to
me, and I wanted to show them a great time while they were in New York City. Once
their itinerary was finalized, my agenda for the night included a pint of Ben
& Jerry’s Boom Chocolatta and an episode of Game of Thrones. Something
about chocolate and grisly death scenes were especially appealing at the moment.

Halfway through the
show, a knock sounded at my front door. I paused the TV and put the lid back on
my pint of ice cream, sticking it in the freezer before checking the peephole.
Shocked, I opened the door.

Brian’s smile
faded. “Um, I take it you aren’t big on surprises.”

Considering I
was hormonal at the moment and he’d basically told me he needed a break, yeah,
I wasn’t big on the surprise. “I thought that you were spending the night with
Mark, and you didn’t want to see me for two more weeks.” I was defensive, but
damn if he hadn’t put me through a gauntlet of emotions over the last
twenty-four hours.

“Uh, right. Goodnight.”
He turned to go.

I winced. “Wait.
Look, you’re catching me off guard.”

“I should have
called.”

“It’s okay. The
timing is kind of awkward, though.”

“Why’s it
awkward?”

I exhaled.
“Because it’s that time for me.”

He looked
completely confused.

“My period,” I
clarified, watching him pale. “Yeah, not something we non-relationship types
have had to discuss before. Um, anyhow, I was—”

He held up his
hands. “No, I get it. I’ll call you, uh, later.”

I nodded, trying
not to let it hurt my feelings that he couldn’t get away fast enough. Then
again, I hadn’t exactly invited him in. After I shut the door, the tears
started, and I cursed. Stupid hormones.

***

There was
another knock less than twenty minutes later. When I opened the door this time,
Brian was standing there with a bag in hand.

“Can I come in
for a few minutes?” he implored.

Nodding, I was
curious why he’d come back and what was in the bag.

“First of all, I
owe you an apology,” he started, taking my chin in his hand and kissing me
softly. “I shouldn’t have bailed on Friday, and then I blew it again by leaving
tonight.”

“I didn’t
exactly make you feel welcome,” I conceded.

He sighed. “With
good cause.

“What’s in the
bag?”

He smiled and
set it down on my kitchen counter. “First of all, I have Haagen Dazs ice
cream.”

He pulled out
the container, and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

“Secondly, I
have a bag of salty chips. Next, I have Motrin and water pills, which are
supposed to help with the cramps and bloat. And finally, I have bubble bath.
I’m told that a soak will help you sleep better.”

“Who told you to
get these things?”

He looked
instantly uncomfortable.

“This is very
sweet Bri, but you ran out of here like a deer in the headlights at the mere
mention of the word
period,
and now you’re back like you’ve read a
how
to deal with a woman on her period
handbook
.
”

“Okay, but don’t
get angry because I didn’t mention any names. I only said that I blew it with
someone I’d been seeing, and you know he’s my best friend, plus he’s married—”

Heat flooded my
face. “Brian, please tell me you did not call Josh, the owner of the company we
work for, not to mention my boss’s boss, to ask him what to do with a woman on
her period. Did you?” Josh may not know about our arrangement, but to have this
type of intimate question asked of him mortified me just the same.

He shifted his
feet. “No, I didn’t call him.”

I breathed a
sigh of relief.

“Technically, I
texted him.”

“Oh. My. God.” I
put my hands over my face, beyond embarrassed.

“Please don’t be
mad. I needed advice after screwing up. And I’m not here for sex. If you’d like
me to stay, maybe we could hang out, and I can run you a bath. But if you want
me to go and be alone, I’m cool with that, too.”

I had to process
for a moment. How the hell could I stay irritated with a man who would text
another man to ask for advice, especially on this subject? “I’m not mad. But I
am taken aback that you went to all this trouble, Bri.” I was quietly trying to
get a handle on my emotions over such a gesture.

“We were friends
first, Sash, and the amazing sex aside, I do enjoy being with you. I’ve never
been in a steady relationship, so I was dumbly ignorant of, you know.”