Page 76 of All for Love

KODY

At the office on Tuesday morning, Mercedes popped her head in and held up a takeout cup with my name literally written on it. She smiled when I motioned for her to come in.

“Coffee delivery,” she said, striding in and handing over the cup.

I set it down on my desk and closed my office door. Then I crossed back to her and took her cup out of her hand to set it down next to mine. I smiled and slid one hand around the nape of her neck. The other rested at the small of her back.

“An excuse to see me one-on-one. Good thinking,” I murmured as I lowered my mouth to hers. I kissed her deep and hard as I held her to me.

I’d meant for it to be a quick good-morning kiss. The first I’d been able to give her since Sunday, which really didn’t sit right with me, but it turned into more than that fast. Her lips were just so damn soft that I couldn’t help myself, and she tasted like sweet espresso that was so much better from her mouth than a cup.

With her body against mine and her arms around my neck, her nails gently stroking my scalp as she pushed her fingers into my hair, I lost all sense of time and place. The world around me disintegrated and she was suddenly all that mattered.

Well, her and getting inside her.

As if she’d heard the thought, she suddenly pushed me away, breathing heavily. She took a step back and brought her hands to her flushed cheeks. I saw the desire darkening those gorgeous greens, but she shook her head at me anyway.

“Not here, Kody. We can’t get hot and heavy at the office. What if someone comes in?”

I groaned and rolled my head back, pushing a palm down over the front of my slacks to calm my raging erection. “Yeah, I know. I know. Sorry. I just lost control for a minute. Give me a few to get it together, then we’ll talk.”

I dragged in a deep breath and brought my hands to my hips, clenching the muscles in my thighs in an attempt to get my dick to behave before I paced over to the windows. I stared at the snow falling outside for a moment before I hung my head forward and gripped my hips tight, wishing that I could just lock the door and have my way with her.

But she was right. I couldn’t bend her over my desk and make her scream my name at the office. No matter how much I wanted to.

What we had was between us, and Kaden thought it was over. As long as it stayed that way, no one would be reading us the riot act over it and we could just be. Which was what I wanted. Just to be. With her, of course, but that wouldn’t be possible if anyone found out what was going on.

My heartrate finally slowed and Mercedes picked up her coffee, getting comfortable in a chair across from my desk. She gave me a weirdly concerned look. “How are you? Are you okay?”

“Not really,” I ground out. “It sucks that my brother can get it on with his girl in his office and I can’t do the same with mine.”

Her cheeks turned that rosy shade of pink I liked so much, and I groaned but she shook her head. “That’s not really what I was talking about, but if it helps, I don’t think they get it on in his office. I’ve walked in there a few times while she’s been visiting and I’ve never caught them in anything even resembling a compromising position.”

“Of course not,” I muttered. On top of everything else, he’s also better at controlling his baser urges than I am.

As soon as the thought hit, I shoved it down. None of what was going on in my life was Kaden’s fault. It also wasn’t his fault our father was an asshole.

I walked over to my desk and sat down on the edge of it, grabbing my coffee and taking a tentative sip to check the temperature. “If that’s not what you were talking about, why did you ask if I was okay?”

“Well, uh, I went to dinner with my mom last night and she let it slip that there’s some tension between you and your dad. I figured someone should check that you’re okay, even if I don’t know what happened exactly.”

I sighed, squeezing my eyes shut and taking a much bigger sip of my coffee now that I knew it wouldn’t scald my mouth. “This is such a fucking weird dynamic.”

“I know,” she replied softly. “I agree. It is weird.”

I opened my eyes to look at her again. “Normally, I’d blow a girl off who was asking such personal questions, but I can’t do that with you.”

“Well, I mean, you could, but I’d still keep hearing about it from the other side,” she said. “All I’m asking is if you’re okay. You don’t have to tell me what happened if you don’t want to and I won’t pressure you for details. She just mentioned it and I was worried about you.”

I blew out a long, slow breath as I looked into those forest greens, wondering how I wanted to play this. She’d sprung it on me, but I also found myself wanting to talk to her about it even if I didn’t ever open up to the women I was sleeping with.

But I supposed that was what made this damn dynamic of ours so weird. She was so much more than just the woman I was sleeping with. Deciding to start slow and see how it went, I grabbed my balls and jumped in, knowing I could still change my mind and race back to shore if I wanted to.

“My father loves my brother and I equally, but he doesn’t respect me the way he does Kaden,” I said, and Mercedes was leaning forward slightly, clearly listening. “Truth be told, he’s always wanted me to change to be more like Kaden. And I get it. I really do. My brother is more refined, he’s more professional, and he’s a lot more disciplined.”

I reflected on everything I was saying, not wanting to rush through this. If I was going to talk about it, my father, and myself, I couldn’t do it glibly. Since I was letting her in, I needed it to mean something.

I needed it to help me process the argument I’d had with my dad the other day and to help me figure out how to move forward. It turned out that Mercedes was a good listener. She let me consider and think it over without interrupting my thoughts, her eyes soft and understanding on mine as she watched me work through it all.