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“My work emergency? Data breach.” Graham drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “It would’ve been devastating if we hadn’t caught it earlier. We suspect one of our board members is responsible, and we’re considering pressing charges.”
“Wow,” I said, not sure if I was more taken aback by the nature of the emergency or the fact that he had willingly shared it with me. Were we…having a moment here? Bonding and actually getting to know each other? I decided to go out on a limb. “I did get the dating app to encourage my mom to get back out there. She told me she wouldn’t do it unless I would, too, but I’m not going to use the app. I’m not ready.”
Graham thought about that. “The best way to get over someone is to just get back out there.”
“Easier said than done.” I swirled the liquor in my glass just so I wouldn’t have to look at him. “I was…engaged. Something I definitely never want to repeat.” I laughed to try to lighten how depressing that statement was because, as I said it, I knew. I didn’t want to get that close to anyone ever again. No, for the foreseeable future, my dating days were over.
Graham was in front of me before I even realized he stood up from his chair. “Who says you’re going to repeat it?”
“Isn’t every relationship meant to try to end in marriage?” I said, refusing to look at him. “Let’s just say it didn’t end well. At all.”
He gently caressed the line of my jaw, and I inhaled sharply, fighting the urge to press myself back in my chair to create more space between us and the inclination to lean forward and reach out to draw him closer. I tried my hardest to breathe steadily, fighting to stay as still as I could, like a deer in the headlights, terrified of making a move, fighting to control my trembling, and realizing the trembling was desire—pure and simple. A desire for something I had tasted before and craved to indulge in again.
One large hand took the glass that both my hands clutched for security, his fingers brushing mine.
“And who says you need another relationship right now?” How was it possible that his voice was so low and powerful, sending chills to places I didn’t even know could shiver? “All you need is a distraction.”
Was that all I needed? A distraction? Could one more encounter with Graham banish all the bad feelings and betrayal from Charlie?
“Stop overthinking it.”
He pulled me to my feet so suddenly that I gasped. Then, I found myself pressed to his chest tight enough to feel the hard outlines of his muscles through his dress shirt. My body was responding almost too quickly for my mind to keep up, and I panted as if I’d just finished a sprint. Or perhaps because I had been running away from my feelings about Charlie and my fear of ever being intimate with anyone else.
“We shouldn’t,” I managed to say before Graham bent forward, green eyes gleaming as he captured my mouth with his lips. They seared me, his tongue like liquid fire in motion. “We agreed it was a one-time deal.”
“Says who?” Those two words murmured against my lips were the only chance I had to try to catch my breath before he kissed me again, causing strong waves of desire to pool low in my belly.
There were so many reasons why we should not do this, and chief among them was the fact that I was his daughter’s nanny.Temporary nanny, my brain supplied helpfully. Plus, another reason was that I was leaving soon, back to my regularly scheduled life in New York. The return date was looming closer and closer to reality.
And yet, those realities melted away with each kiss, each brush of his hands along my sides, and each grip of his fingers on my ass. I could feel myself getting wetter by the second, eager for more contact.
“Tell me you want this,” Graham said, capturing my chin in his hand and angling my face upward, forcing me to make eye contact with him. It was just as hard as it was hot, and my thoughts jumbled, my tongue thick and already exhausted with kissing.
I didn’t hesitate or give my hangups, misgivings, and insecurities any more real estate in my brain. “Yes.” I wanted to banish reality and fill up my memories with this ever-present living fantasy. Like the lines of Graham’s torso cut out in sharp relief through the V of his shirt that had become unbuttoned, and the bruising hold he had on my waist and hips, anchoring me, grounding me, preparing me for liftoff.
How could something feel so rushed and yet unhurried at the same time? He opened up little parts of me at a time, unfastening my jeans but leaving the zipper, slipping a breast out of its cup but leaving the bra clasped, and tugging my hair from its tie to swing loose down my neck. His fingers were everywhere—exploring, teasing, cajoling, drawing out sighs and whimpers, and making me bite my lower lip. The house was cavernous, but I knew I had to keep in some form of control. I definitely didn’t want us to wake Collins up.
My body surprised me by being nearly ready by the time Graham eased down the zipper of my jeans, both of us braced against the leather chair.
He smiled against my mouth, his breath hot and shot through with the sweetness of whiskey. “All this for me?” he asked, slipping his fingers through the dampness that had gathered in my panties. I arched against him as he touched me exactly where I wanted to be touched, moving with his strokes in a way I knew would get me to where I needed.
We were as silent as we could be, but my breathing sounded harsh and ragged to my own ears as I gripped his forearms, holding on for my life. He pressed a hand over my mouth, and I covered his hand with both of mine, trying to stave off the cries of utter ecstasy as he pushed me over my limits and toppled me over into orgasm. It had been too long since I’d felt like this—wanted, valued, and absolutelyhighon desire. Charlie and I had never been soferalin the act. This took things to a whole new level and heightened every experience, making me feel wild.
I shuddered as I tried to come back to myself, but Graham couldn’t wait for me. I wouldn’t have asked him to, not with the way his length tented the front of his pants. It struck me that he must have needed this as much as I did, and I knew I could take it.
He flipped me over to kneel on the seat of the chair while I was still feeling boneless, and I had to scrabble against the back of the furniture to secure my position. He used that distraction to pull my jeans and panties down over my ass, giving me a light spank as I heard something tear and crumple. I turned just in time to see him roll the condom over himself.
“Ready?” he asked, flashing me a grin before pushing deep into my heat.
9
Graham
Sinking into Heather’s body as she writhed back against me was well worth the wait. Every barely suppressed moan wrenched from her body was worth it. She was so fucking hot that it gave me pause—my hand steadying her hip as it rocked back against me—to wonder who had broken her heart. Why the hell had they given someone like her up?
Their loss was my gain. I rolled my hips experimentally, feeling out this new territory. She responded to my every movement, throwing her head back to pant before pressing her face back into the leather to stifle the sounds she wanted to make.
It was so goddamn hard to be silent, which made me look forward to another opportunity in the future for us to be together and as loud as we wanted—maybe in my penthouse downtown or some other getaway.
