Gone - Part One (6 page)

"Mr. Parker?" A woman's voice calls from the doorway of his office.

I panic because that's what women instinctively do when they're caught in a compromising position with their boss. I try to push free of his embrace, but he grazes his moist lips over my cheek before he lets go of my neck and pulls his hand free of my panties.

"Don’t move." His breath whispers over my ear. "Stay right here."

I'd do as I'm told but the parts of me that believe I should run out of his office with my face covered by my hands are winning the internal battle that is going on within me. I have no idea how long the woman at the doorway has been there. I don't know what she heard or saw, but I do know that I'm not about to stick around to find out.

I turn quickly only to look up to the calm and very relaxed face of the man who just gave me a mind-numbing orgasm. He bites the corner of his lip before he slowly brings his hand to his face, running two of the fingers that were just buried within me across his mouth. I watch in silence as he shifts the position of his hand. I understand immediately when he holds his index finger in place over his lips. He wants me to be quiet. I need to do that.

"Allison, I'm busy." He pivots so he's facing her now. "What do you want?"

She twists her lips into a grimace before she teeters back on one of the black stilettos she's wearing. "You asked me to meet you here at eight. It's eight."

I stare at the back of his head as it dips towards his wrist and the silver watch adorning it. "I forgot we had a meeting."

"You asked me to meet you here." There's no disguising the disappointment in her tone. "I moved another engagement so I could do this."

"I need to go." I move from where I've been standing in silence behind him. "I should get home."

He catches the skirt of my dress before I have a chance to take even one step forward. "Lilly, I'd like to talk before you leave."

My eyes volley from his face back to the woman's at the doorway. I recognize her from a few photographs I've seen online of her and Clive together. She heads one of the many charities that Clive dedicates his resources to. Her arms are crossed and I can sense that she's feeling just as uncomfortable as I am. I may have been the one pressed into the window getting fingered to an orgasm, but she had to witness the aftermath of that. I can't even entertain the thought that she watched the entire thing, so I'm going to assume that based on her somewhat calm demeanor that she didn't see much more than Clive's arms wrapped around me.

"Are you going to have time to meet with me or not?" Allison takes a step into the office. "I'd like to be done this by midnight."

I follow her cue as I pull gently from his grasp. "I need to go."

He doesn't try and stop me. He only nods in agreement as I watch him slide his suit jacket from his shoulders. I start to walk out but before I cross the threshold I turn one last time to see him sitting next to her on a white leather sofa resting against a wall adjacent to the window. His arm is draped lazily over the back of the piece of luxurious furniture as he talks quietly to her. I step away from the doorway the moment I see her rest her hand on his knee.

***

"Have you ever slept with your boss?"

Rebecca bites into the corner of a piece of toast. "Clive is your boss. Are you fucking him?"

I obviously didn't think this conversation through. "No, it's not about me."

"No one believes anyone who says that, Lilly." She takes a bigger bite of the dry bread before chasing it down with a swallow of coffee. I instantly hit it off with her in a way I never had with Roni. Rebecca welcomed me with open arms and gave me a primer on what to expect when it comes to dating men in Manhattan. She's a few years older me, but there's a big sister aura about her that I'm already crazy about. Having her for a roommate is giving me a sense of belonging I haven't felt in a long time.

"When did you meet Clive?" I ask not out of any real curiosity. I'm simply trying to steer this disaster of a discussion into a place that takes the spotlight off of me and what happened in Clive's office last night.

"It was months ago." She presses her index finger between her lips before pulling it over the plate. She licks the scattered crumbs of the toasted bread from her skin. "It might be close to a year now."

"How did you meet?" I pour myself another cup of coffee before topping off hers. "Did you work for him?"

"No." She tips her chin towards the mug. "Can you grab the milk out of the fridge for me?"

I take a step to the left and open the refrigerator door wide enough to pull out the small carton of milk. "Did you date?"

After pouring a heavy dose of milk into her mug, she pushes the carton back to me. "I was dating someone when we met. We hit it off as friends right away."

Somehow the idea of Clive Parker being friend zoned by a woman as beautiful as Rebecca seems almost impossible. "He said you two are good friends."

"He's been my go-to guy when I have real guy trouble." She giggles at the implied inference that Clive isn't a real man. "He's helped me a lot with dating stuff and life stuff."

"It's great to have a friend like that," I offer out of courtesy. I've drifted away from most of the close friends I've had in my life. It's a hole that I'm hoping I can fill now that I'm beginning to settle into life in Manhattan.

"I used to have this friend named, Jess." She points towards the hallway. "She actually lived here when she first moved to New York from Connecticut."

"In my room?" I ask.

Her nose wrinkles slightly. "It was her room. It was one of the best times of my life. We had a lot of fun together."

"Did you fall out of touch with each other?"

Her eyes flit over my face quickly before she pulls them down toward the counter. "I got in the middle of her relationship and things went sour."

"That's rough." I want to reach out to comfort her but I've known her for less than a week. "Maybe you can repair things one day."

"I've tried." She picks up the mug in both her palms. "I actually met Clive when I went to see Jess at work one day."

"Does she work at Corteck?"

"She's a chef. She works at the restaurant that Clive's nephew's adopted father owns." She tips her chin with each reference. "I think I have that right."

She does have it right. She's talking about Hunter Reynolds, the man who owns both Axel NY and Axel Boston. He's the adopted father of Clive's nephew, Cory. Cory was named after Coral Parker, Clive's sister who died more than a decade ago. There's no shortage of information online about the tragedy of Coral's death and her family's decision to donate her organs. Her heart had been transplanted into Hunter Reynold's wife, Sadie. It's a cruel twist of fate that I found not only fascinating, but also heartbreaking.

"Clive could see I was in pain," she continues without any prompting from me. "He's lost a lot of people in his life, so he understands."

I understand too but pushing my past into this conversation isn't going to happen. Not today, and maybe not ever. I've rarely shared with anyone what happened to my parents and judging by the pain that Rebecca still seems to be in over losing her best friend, I don't view her as a sympathetic shoulder I can lean on.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk." I tap her hand before I reach for the milk to tuck it back into the fridge. "I need to take off."

"Where are you going so early on a Saturday?" she calls after me as I pull a sweater over the simple white dress I'm wearing.

"The library," I toss back as I yank my apartment keys into my palm and head out the door.

"Where does a young woman new to the city spend her Saturday?" Clive asks, his voice sounding husky.

"I'm at the library," I whisper into my phone not wanting to draw any attention from the other patrons who are gathered around trying to read or study.

"The library?" There's a pause and I hear the unmistakable rustling of sheets. He's in bed. I glance down at the corner of my laptop screen. It's after one in the afternoon. A sudden ache pours through me as I think about what it must be like to spend a lazy Saturday morning tucked into Clive's bed and his arms.

"I'm catching up on emails and stuff." I don't elaborate because there's no need to. I'm not on his company's time at the moment. It's the weekend and I'm free to do whatever I want until I step back into the lobby of his building on Monday morning. Until then, my time doesn't belong to him.

"Have you had lunch?"

It's a question that catches me completely off guard. When I first saw his number calling me, I assumed he wanted to explain away what happened in his office last night. I had tossed and turned for hours after going to bed reliving every touch of his hands on my skin. "Not yet."

"I can be ready in fifteen."

The casual way he says the words surprises me. I've never imagined sharing a meal with him. "Do you want me to meet you somewhere?"

"You took the subway to Fifth Avenue, right?"

It's not surprising that he'd jump to that conclusion. Stepping into this branch of the library was like entering another world. The striking architectural details only add to the richness of the experience. I can already tell that this is going to be the refuge I need in this city. It's the place where I can come to work and unwind. "I did."

"I'll be outside waiting for you in twenty minutes."

I stare at my phone as the line goes dead.

***

"You don't like the salad?" He tilts his chin towards my plate before pushing another forkful of pasta into his mouth.

"It's fine." I run my index finger over the rim of the water glass sitting in front of me. "I'm not that hungry."

"You're thinking about what happened last night." He takes another bite of his pasta before washing it down with a swallow of the domestic beer he ordered.  "I've been thinking about it too."

I look at him directly, astonished that he can fluidly move from talking about how warm it is outside today to diving into the finer details of our intimate encounter in his office. I had wanted to blurt out how much I enjoyed it the moment I stepped through the front doors of the library to see him sitting on one of the concrete steps wearing faded jeans and a blue dress shirt. He was as handsome as ever in the bright sunshine of this Saturday afternoon. My heart stalled when he turned towards me and a wide grin flashed across his lips.

"It's hard not to think about it," I say quietly not wanting the words to reveal the desperate desire that is fueling them.

His brow arches. "We should talk about it, Lilly. I need to clarify a few things with you."

My heart drops at the words. I've dated a few men the last few years and whenever a discussion begins with a need for clarification it usually ends in a promise to stay friends. Clive is already regretting what happened between us and that's going to make it uncomfortable every time I have to discuss anything at work with him.

"I'm thirty-four years old." He pulls the linen napkin over his mouth before he tosses it onto his now empty plate. "I don't date women your age."

This is the rumor that Kathryn was talking about last night. "Women my age?"

"You're twenty-two." He taps his finger against the bottle of beer. "I have a hard limit about dating anyone your age. It's mostly about interests and life goals."

I suddenly feel all the lingering elation that I've been carrying with me since last night dissipating. "I'm too young for you?"

His hand leaps to his face to trace a path around his mouth. I stare at his long fingers remembering how it felt to come just by his touch. When I'd gotten back to the apartment, I'd crawled into my bed and had run my hands through my tender core to relive what it felt like when he expertly brought me to orgasm. Judging by the conversation we're having now, that one taste of pleasure with Clive Parker was all I was going to get.

"You're very young." He doesn't elaborate beyond that.

My eyes move past him to rest on a row of barstools that sit empty. Later this evening, the restaurant we're sitting in will shift to something else. The families and newly dating couples that now fill the cramped space will move on with their days. Men and women looking for something raw, primitive and fleeting will pour through the doors when the murky dusk takes over the city. They'll meet, they'll drink and then they'll retreat to a hotel down the street or maybe an apartment uptown where they'll fuck before they even know each other's names.

This is a city where casual sex is just around the corner and if I need that, I'll be able to find it without any trouble at all. I can replace my body's desire for Clive Parker with another gorgeous man. What I can't replace is my job.

"I completely understand." I cross my arms over my chest in a thoughtless gesture to protect my own emotions. I let myself feel too much when I came in his office last night. It's a mistake I'm not going to make again. I have to stay focused solely on my career. I can't let that slip through my fingers. "Let's just forget it ever happened."

"Forget it ever happened?" He rakes his hand through his tousled hair. "I don't want that."

The statement hits me with the brute force of a slap across the face. "What do you want then?"

"You." His hands fall to the table with a simultaneous heavy thud. "I want you, Lilly."