Fight With Me (7 page)

“No,” I whisper.  “That’s not what I want.”

He exhales deeply and kisses my fingers, relief evident on his gorgeous face.  “Me neither.”

“So, what do we do?”

“We continue having an amicable, professional relationship at work, and whatever happens outside of the office is our business.” He shrugs like it makes perfect sense.  Like it’s so easy.

“I’m not a good actress.”

“Oh, I don’t know, you’ve done well enough for the past eight months.”  He sits back and takes a sip of wine, not letting go of my hand, his eyes hooded.

There is no choice.  If we give any clue at work that we’re intimate we’ll both be fired.  If we decide to never see each other again, I’ll be devastated and broken-hearted.  Neither option is appetizing.

“Okay.  Business as usual.”

“Excuse me,” our waiter approaches the table and I smile up at him.  “Aren’t you Jules M from Playboy?”

I feel the blood drain from my face.  I’m never recognized, ever.  It’s been five years since I last posed in that magazine, and it has to be now, when I’m with Nate, that some kid remembers seeing me in a magazine his dad probably had hidden under his bed.

I throw on my fake smile and wink at him.  “I am.”

Nate releases my hand and I cringe on the inside.

“Wow,” the waiter blushes and smiles back at me.  “I thought I recognized you. I don’t want to bug you, I was just curious.  Your dessert should be ready in a second.”

“Thank you, Derrick,” I reply smoothly, reading his name tag.  He nods awkwardly and walks away and I take a deep breath and meet Nate’s eyes across the table.

“I guess I should mention that I posed in Playboy a long time ago,” I murmur.

“I guess you should,” he responds.  His voice has gone colder and I cringe, on the outside this time.

“It’s not something I’m ashamed of, but it doesn’t come up often any more.  It was a long time ago.”  I shrug and watch his expression, which doesn’t change.

“Why did you do it?” he asks.

“Well, Natalie used to take a lot of photos of me.  She still does.  The biggest part of her business is boudoir and couples photography.  She got into it in college, and I was the one she practiced on.”

“Go on,” he says after Derrick places our desserts on the table.

“So, there was a talent scout in Seattle one weekend, and I grabbed a few of the photos she took and went there to see what they thought.  One month later I was in L.A. at a studio posing for the magazine.”  I shrug again and fidget with my silverware.  “It didn’t pay very well, but I didn’t need the money anyway.  I guess it made me feel sexy, and girly, which was important to me because I’d always been around so many boys, and it was fun.  The photographer was very professional, as was everyone else on the set.  I got to stay at the Playboy Mansion a few times and hang out with the other girls and Heff, and there were celebrities around.  For a twenty-one year-old, it was glamorous and exciting.”

“But?” he asks, prompting me to continue.

“But, I didn’t like the crude guys that would approach me when I was out with Nat. One guy cornered me in a bathroom hallway in a bar one night, and well, let’s just say he had a hard time taking no for an answer.” I swallow and look down at my clenched hands. “ I beat him to a bloody pulp.”  Nate’s hand flexes into a fist on the table and I raise my eyes to his.  “I literally put him in the hospital.”

“Good,” is his only response.

“I decided that posing those few times was enough.  It’s something I’ll always have, but not something I need.  I’m shocked that kid recognized me.”  I shake my head and close my eyes, wishing Nate would give me a clue to what he’s thinking.

“Please say something,” I whisper when it feels like minutes tick by without a peep from him.

“I don’t like it.”  His voice is quiet and cold, and my stomach clenches in fear.

“That’s understandable,” I mutter, my head down.  I focus on the table cloth, running my fingers over it, steadying myself for him to say he’s done.  This is a deal breaker for him.  He thinks I’m a whore.

I’ve heard all those things before.

“I think you’re incredible.”

What?
  I whip my head up, my eyes searching his.  My mouth is open in shock.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“You don’t think I’m a whore?”
Seriously?

His eyes go arctic.  “Don’t you ever fucking say that again.”

“I’m sorry, I just…”

“Just what?” he snaps.

“I’ve heard it before,” I whisper and look down again.

“Look at me.” His voice is softer, calmer, and I raise my eyes to his again.  “You are a brilliant, lovely woman, Julianne.  You had a wild streak in college.  That’s something I can identify with.”  He raises an eyebrow and a smile tugs at the corners of his lips.

“The problem I have,” he continues, “is that other men have seen your beautiful body.”

“I wasn’t a virgin when I met you,” I remind him.

“No, you weren’t, and I can deal with that, although I admit it makes me a little crazy.  But knowing other men have seen you, and fantasized about you, makes me want to put each and every one of
them
into the hospital, starting with our young waiter.”

Oh.
I don’t know why that touches me, and I’m mortified to feel tears prick the backs of my eyes.  I blink rapidly and try to find my equilibrium.  He never fails to surprise me.

“So,” I swallow and grip his hand in mine.  “So, you still want to see me?”

“Of course.” He frowns like it’s an absurd question.

I nod and look down at my chocolate cake.  “Can we get these to go?”

“Great idea.”  He signals for the waiter and requests boxes for our delicious-looking desserts.

He’s quiet on the ride back to his apartment, but he keeps a hand on my thigh, as though he just can’t stop touching me, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

He still wants me!
 

I glance at his sexy motorcycle when I climb out of his car and I smirk, remembering this afternoon.  He smiles down at me and kisses my hand.  “I’m looking forward to doing that again,” he murmurs.

Oh, me too!

“Do you want dessert?” Nate asks me once we get inside the apartment.

“Yes.” I respond and smile up at him, running my fingers through his soft black hair.

“I’ll plate these for us,” he starts to turn away, but I grab onto his shirt and turn him back toward me.

“That’s not what I meant,” I mutter.  Those beautiful gray eyes darken and look down at my lips as I pull my bottom lip between my teeth.

“No?” he whispers back and runs his fingers down my cheek.  I shake my head and take the bag containing our dessert out of his hand.  I walk over to the fridge, my pretty pink shoes clicking on the hardwood, and my gray dress floating around my thighs, making my skin hum.  I stow the containers and turn back around, and Nate is standing right behind me.

“Oh!” I gasp, startled.

“Dessert should be eaten in the kitchen,” he murmurs and cups my face in his hands, nibbling my mouth and pushing me back against the stainless steel fridge.

“It should?”

“Yes, no food allowed in the bedroom.”  I smile and tilt my head to the side as he slides those amazing lips over to my ear and down my neck.  I run my hands down his back and pull his shirt out of his pants, gliding my hands up his smooth, warm skin.

“You feel good,” I whisper.

He groans and lifts me, pivots and sets me down on the counter top, stepping between my thighs.  My fingers find their way into his hair and I gaze down at him, a smile tickling my lips.  “You’re so handsome.”

He smiles shyly and shakes his head and leans down and nibbles my bare shoulder.

“Hmmm.” Oh, that feels good.  He pushes his hands under the hem of my dress and up my naked thighs, to my hips.

“You’re not wearing panties?” His eyes are wide as they search mine and he grins wolfishly.

“I figured, what’s the point?  You’ll just rip them off me anyway.”  I giggle and he drops to his knees, hitching my legs over his shoulders.

Whoa!

He scoots me to the very edge of the counter and I have to grip it so I don’t fall.  “I’m going to fall,” I gasp.

“No, you won’t, baby.”  He hikes my skirt up around my hips and parts my thighs.  “Jesus, look at you.”

“Nate,” I squirm and he smiles up at me.

“I think I’ll have you for dessert, Julianne.”

And with that he leans in and runs his tongue up over my labia and to my clit, then back down again and sinks into me, kissing me deeply, those talented lips kissing and coaxing my most intimate lips, his tongue working its way in and out of me in a perfect rhythm.  I clutch his hair in my fingers and throw my head back, reveling in the way his amazing mouth feels on me.

God, I missed having him do this to me, and he only did it once before!

I feel his thumb on my clitoris, and push my pelvis against his mouth as electricity shoots through me, through my limbs to my toes, and up my spine.

“Oh, fuck, Nate.”

He sucks my lips into his mouth and presses harder on my clit and I unravel, completely coming apart at the seams.  He rains soft kisses on my inner thighs, then suddenly he’s standing before me, his pants unzipped and his beautiful cock is hard and ready for me.  I reach down and run my finger around the head and over the silver balls that I’ve grown to really, really love.

Really fucking love.

He sucks air in through his clenched teeth and I push him away from me to hop off the counter, still fully clothed.  I push him against the refrigerator and kneel, taking his cock in my hands and pushing up and down, loving how smooth and hard he is.

“Oh, God, Jules, you don’t have to do this.”  I look up into his blazing gray eyes and frown.

“You called me Jules.”  He gives me a cocky grin and shrugs and I reward him with a grin of my own.

I resume massaging his impressive cock and swirl my tongue around the tip, then over, tasting a small bead of dew.  I like the way the apa feels against my tongue.  I look up at Nate’s face, elated at the raw lust in his eyes, and lick his shaft, from his scrotum to the tip, then sink my mouth over him.

“Holy fuck.”

It takes me a second to get accustomed to the piercing, but then I find a rhythm, up and down, pushing my lips over him, sheathing my teeth behind them.

I push down until I feel those silver balls at the back of my throat and thank God that I don’t have much of a gag reflex.  Pulling back up, I swirl my tongue around the shaft, over the head, then sink back down.  I repeat this over and over, Nate’s breathing is labored and ragged, and I feel so sexy.

Finally, I feel him start to tense and I move a bit faster.

“Stop, baby, I’m going to come.”

Fuck that!
 

“For fuck’s sake, Jules, stop.”  He pulls me up into his arms and kisses me voraciously.  I can taste me and him on our lips and I groan.

“In me.  Now.” I murmur and he pivots so I’m now against the fridge and he lifts me, his hands cupping my ass, and pushes swiftly into me.

“Oh God, baby,” His face is buried in my neck and I wrap my arms around his shoulders.

“Yes,” I whisper.

He sets a fast, punishing rhythm, rocking in and out of me, and I know this won’t last long. My muscles tense and clench around him and my legs grip him more tightly to me and I bear down, coming again, gripping onto his shoulders for support.  He slams into me, hard, twice more and then tenses and I feel him erupt inside me.

“Fuck,” he whispers and rests his forehead on mine.

“Wow,” I respond.

“Jesus, you have an incredible mouth.” He’s still panting, and I run my fingers through his hair and offer him a Cheshire cat smile.

“So do you, ace.  You make me crazy.”

Chapter Eight

“Are you sure you have to go home?” Nate asks as he leans against the doorway of the spare bedroom, watching me pack my bag. I wrap my pink Louboutins in tissue and place them in the suitcase.

“Yeah, I do. I have laundry to do and I need to get ready for my work week.” I smile over at him and am caught off guard at how gorgeous he is. I’m still getting used to seeing him dressed casually. He’s in a soft gray t-shirt, showing off his muscular biceps where they cross over his impressive chest. God, I love that tattoo on his right arm. His faded blue jeans hang low on his hips. He’s barefoot and his hair is loose.

I catch his gaze and a slow, sexy smile spreads across those beautiful lips. He knows I appreciate what I see.

Boy, do I.

“When will I see you again?” he asks.

“In about twelve hours, ace.” I smirk as I add the last of my things to my suitcase and zip it up.

“You know what I mean, smart ass.”

“Dinner tomorrow night?” I ask.

“I have that business meeting late tomorrow.” He runs his hand through his hair with a scowl. “Do you have plans for your birthday?”

My gaze shoots back up to his in surprise, my eyes are wide. “How do you know when my birthday is?”

“Jules, we work in the same office. A birthday card circulated around for you last week. Not to mention, I have access to your personnel file.”

“Well, that’s just… creepy.”

“Birthday cards are creepy?” His silver-gray eyes are laughing at me and I can’t help but giggle.

“No, you reading my personnel file is creepy.”

“I love your laugh.”

“Don’t try to sweet talk your way out of this, ace.” I plant my hands on my hips and try my best to look stern. Nate pushes away from the door and saunters to where I stand by his spare bed. He takes my face in his big hands and tenderly kisses my forehead.

“I just wanted to know more about you, Julianne.”

Oh.

“So do you have plans for your birthday?” he asks again.

“No.”

“Good. I’d like to be with you for your birthday.” I rest my hands on his jean-clad hips and lean my forehead on his sternum. His hands glide back against my cheeks and into my hair, and we stand like this for a long moment, neither of us wanting me to go.