“I’ve never encountered someone like her; we couldn’t be more different. Yes, she’s beautiful, that much is obvious, but we’re complete opposites if you ask me.”
“Might be an unpopular opinion, but I think you may like her.”
My jaw drops ever so slightly, and I hit Dex with a “you can’t be serious” look. Noticing, he holds his hands up in surrender.
“Hear me out. You’re distracted in meetings, daydreaming like a teenager, and you’ve admitted you think about her more than you’d like.” Dex looks me right in the eyes, leaning forward. His voice drops to a whisper. “I think you’rein love.”
I reach across the table and shove his shoulder playfully. “You are absolutely full of it.” Dex bursts into a fit of laughter. “You’ve got to be taking the piss, Dexter. I just enjoy riling her up.”
I’ve become addicted to the feeling I get when I rile her up. I find myself looking forward to each Tuesday, waiting to see those blue eyes narrowed in my direction, the scowl she loves to point at me.
“Okay, that last line might have been me taking the piss,” Dex says through his laughs, “but I meant the rest of it.”
I don’t like the way his eyes soften as the laughter subsides. He looks like he truly means what he said, which is a cause for concern. No one, except perhaps Teddy, knows me as well as Dex does. For him to say I might like this woman who drives me crazy and has my cock stirring simply from the words she utters? Well, that’s fucking terrifying.
We finish our lunch in silence, which I find to be slightly less than comfortable—the idea that I mightlikeLara plays on my mind more than I’d like. Dex doesn’t question me any further, but I know him. He’ll have a hundred and one questions swirling around in that head of his, dying to ask me.
The next few days are filled with far too many thoughts of Lara. Scolding myself didn’t have the slightest impact, so I gave up. She continued to come to mind at the most inconvenient of times. A conversation with Emilia turned to thoughts of Lara when she’d mentioned the book of the month for her “Smut Club”. I refuse to utter those words out loud, but that’s what she calls it.?
Even the most mundane of tasks had me thinking of Lara. I was standing in my office last week, contemplating ignoring the barrister performance reviews awaiting my attention, when an intrusive thought struck. One minute my mind was on my employees, and the next it was on Lara. Not just any Lara, but a naked one. Eyes skimming across the expanse of my solid mahogany desk, I pictured her bent over in front of me. Her hair twisted through my fingers pulled tight enough to have her breath straining. The twitch of my cock beneath my trousers had me snapping out of that daydream in an instant.
Lara had infiltrated my thoughts in the best and worst of ways. The firm was absolutely no place to be fantasising about that infuriating woman, even if she did have a body built to be bent over and fucked from behind.?
Just yesterday, it happened again, this time during a finance meeting. One of our accountants had been going through numbers I most definitely should’ve been paying attention to. Instead, she’d uttered the word “books”, and that had been enough for my thoughts to hightail it elsewhere.?
Attending as many meetings as I do, I’ve learnt the art of appearing to pay attention whilst being worlds away in thought. That particular skill came in handy yesterday. To my staff at the table, I looked as if I were deeply enthralled by the numbers. What was I actually thinking about? How Lara would look pressed up against the boardroom windows. Howshe’d feel beneath my hands. What sort of noises she’d make as I toyed with her centre.
If I didn’t sort my shit out soon, I’d need an intervention.
Ten minutes after I walk into the bookstore, there’s still no sign of her. Acting totally cool and not at all like a crazy person, I circle the aisles several times with no luck. Am I really seeking her out now? Has it come to that? Oh, my brother and Dex would have afielddayif they could see me now.?
Rounding the front of the store on what I’d guess to be my sixth casual lap, I catch a glimpse of the blonde ends of her hair. Much too quickly, I stop in my tracks, turning in her direction. She’s behind the counter, facing the wall behind it. Judging by the way she hasn’t turned around, I don’t think she knows I’m standing here.
From my vantage point to the side of the counter, I get the chance to really take her in, and without her berating me for it. Although I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy that. Lara has a deliciously sharp tongue for a young woman. Most of our encounters over the past couple of months have left me one of two ways: wanting to fuck her mouth to see how capable she is of insulting me with a mouthful of my cock, or wanting to devour her pussy until nothing but whimpers come from that mouth.
It’s irrational how maddening I find her, yet in the same breath, I want to fuck her into oblivion. I want to invade her thoughts as thoroughly as she has invaded mine.
The first thing I notice: she’s wearing a skirt. A reasonably short skirt, given the cooler weather we’re still experiencing. The second thing I notice: her legs are fucking divine. Not because they’re long and could belong to a supermodel. No, Lara is a little on the shorter side; I have at least a head on her. They’re divine because they’re hers. Seeing them on display for the first time has me feeling likea horny teenager.
Her calves are well-defined, probably from a childhood of dancing, and her skin looks unimaginably smooth. The desire to run my hand up her thigh to know how her skin feels beneath mine is almost painful.
Good god, this really needs to stop. Since I’m sure it would be in everyone’s best interest if I cut today’s visit short, I turn on my heel and move towards the door. A floorboard squeaks beneath my foot, and immediately I know I’ve been caught.
“Nothing to say today then, Mr Darcy?” Lara’s teasing tone sounds from behind me. The one that makes me want to walk right back over there and bend her over the counter. Perhaps a good spanking is what she needs, some form of release she clearly isn’t getting.
My eyes meet hers. Her pupils grow as I hold her gaze, the corners of my lips rising ever so slightly.
“You knew I was in the store, didn’t you?”
Her eyes sparkle with humour. “Of course I knew, you’re rather heavy-footed.”
My jaw goes slack as I gape at Lara. A sly smirk is directed at me, her eyes narrow and feline-like.
“Rather heavy-footed?” I exclaim, quite taken aback at the accusation.
Lara bursts into a full-blown laugh, rendering her speechless. The look on my face really must have been something because tears of laughter stream from her closed eyes. I use her distraction to my advantage and stride right up to her side.
As if sensing me, she opens her eyes. Before I can stop to think,what the fuck are you doing?I reach my hand up and cup her jaw. My thumb brushes beneath her eye, wiping away the remaining lone tear. Our eyes lock once more, and my pulse races the same way it did that first day. Fuck, she hassuchan effect on me. The rapid beating of my heart radiates intomy stomach and floods my ears. Her skin is soft to the touch, like silk beneath the pad of my thumb.
