AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The servers are starting to come around to give us our first course, a charcuterie platter for two. I look down at the platter that Lana and I are to share. It is filled with Spanish chorizo, prosciutto di parma, gouda, thin wafer crackers, charred artichokes, and olives. If I focus really hard, maybe I can get my mind on the food and off the woman sitting beside me.
“Please, you first.” I motion to the platter.
“This looks great,” she says as she begins to make her selections and puts them onto her small appetizer plate. As she leans in closer to me, I smell her perfume again, and I fight to keep my eyes focused on her face. “So, how often do we attend events like this?”
“We usually have dinners, parties, and other invitations at least once a month. I try to attend as many as possible. You are not required to come to all of them, of course. But when we do business travel together, we’ll have several dinners and meetings pretty frequently. You won’t have to dress up quite as formally for those.” My eyes are drawn to her again as they unintentionally roam down her body with that last statement.
Fuck. I need to get laid. That’s obviously my problem.
Amanda and I haven’t slept together in over three months and very infrequently prior to that. At this point, I’m sure any woman would cure the itch. That must be why I’m acting like a horny teenager on prom night.
Maybe I should call Amanda back after all and possibly get her to agree to a more casual relationship, a no-strings-attached sort of thing—anything to get my mind off my new assistant.
As I sit here and battle my thoughts, Lana is enjoying herself. She is laughing at something that Bill Jeffrey just said. The sound is beautiful and almost musical. I try to picture Amanda’s laugh in my head, but I can’t remember how it sounds.
Lana turns to me, and her eyes are dancing with laughter. “Is it true?” she asks. “Did you really go down in the mud?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Embarrassed to be caught not paying attention, I try to figure out what they are talking about. Everyone around the table is looking at me expectantly, waiting for an answer.
Lana leans in and whispers out of the corner of her mouth, “The story about the pigs.”
“Oh, with the pigs? Yes, I sure did. And Bill needs to stop feeding the group stories about my wild childhood.” My eyes are shooting daggers at Bill, but of course, he is not going to stop.
“Oh, don’t be shy, Jake!” Bill jokes. “You should have seen it. I think he was sixteen at the time. That pig had somehow gotten ahold of a bracelet he had in his pocket, where he normally kept treats. Anyway, that pig took off with the bracelet, and Jake took off after it. They were running around, and Jake slipped into the mud and took that big ole pig down with him. I’ll never forget it. He finally got up and was covered head to toe in mud. He never did get that bracelet back, either. He was supposed to give it to his girlfriend, if I recall right.”
Lana looks at me, still laughing. “I can’t picture you rolling around in the mud with a pig. So, what happened to the girl?”
“Well, that bracelet was supposed to be her birthday gift. Let’s just say she didn’t believe my pig story and was pretty mad at me for showing up at her house an hour late. My poor heart never recovered,” I say, sighing dramatically for effect.
Bill has a couple more stories to entertain the dinner guests, and the rest of the evening goes by fast. Lana turns out to be great company. She helps carry the conversation with Bill and his other guests and seems to have a natural ability to make everyone comfortable around her. Everyone is enthralled by her, even me.
Before I know it, it’s time to head back home. I text the driver to come and pick us up.
It’s very late when we arrive back at Lana’s apartment. Many of the streetlights are not working on her street, casting dark shadows on thesidewalk. There were a few men lingering on the street opposite her building as well as a few people walking by on the sidewalk in front of her building. Given the late hour, the dark sidewalks, and the part of town we are in, I feel uncomfortable dropping Lana off at the front and having her walk in by herself.
Not to mention, I feel a strange reluctance to end the evening.
As the driver pulls over to the curb at the front of her building, I get out of the car and hold the door open for Lana.
“There’s no need to walk me in. I’m good, thanks,” she says.
“I’d prefer to walk you up,” I tell her. No way am I letting her go in alone. She doesn’t even have a doorman to watch over her.
I put my hand on the smooth skin of her back to gently urge her into the building. My hand feels warm and tingles where it touches her bare skin. As the elevator doors open, I yank my hand back and put it in my pocket. On second thought, it’s better not to touch her at all.
It feels like an eternity as the elevator slowly rolls up to the fourth floor. I keep my distance in the elevator and focus on watching the floors tick by on the lit panel. Even though Lana tells me multiple times that I don’t need to walk her all the way to her apartment, I insist that I need to see her inside safely.
I’m tense as I stand to the side and fight the urge to look at her; however, my eyes drift that way on their own accord. I wish I could stop myself from noticing how tightly the dress hugs her ass.
After a seemingly endless elevator ride, we arrive at her floor. I follow her to her door and wait for her to unlock and open it.
Turning back to me, she says, “I know this was a work function, but I had a really great time. Thanks for inviting me.”
I take a step closer to her and reach up to put my finger under her chin. She tilts her face up to look into my eyes.
Her eyes darken with some unnamed emotion. Her breathing completely stops as she holds her breath. We are so close I could easily lean down and take her lips with mine. I wonder if she knows how much I’d like to do just that. It’s a dangerous temptation.
“You’re welcome. And Lana? I was lying earlier when I said you looked nice tonight. You don’t look nice…You look absolutely fucking gorgeous.” At the shocked look on her face, I drop my hand, turn, and walk quickly back to the elevator.
