Against the Rules

I turn to give Finn one last look. His arm is outstretched now over where I was lying. He moves it in his sleep as if he were searching for something. Is he looking for me? I want to crawl back into the bed with him but I know I can’t. I find my purse by the door as I slip out of the bedroom and call for a car on my app. Luckily there is one down the street.

“Ma’am?” I jerk around to see Timothy standing there.

“You scared the crap out of me.” My hand goes to my chest trying to get my heart under control.

“I’m sorry. Is there something I can help you with?”

I shake my head no. “I’m good.” I want to do my walk of shame alone. I fooled around with the boss. The one I said I would never give in to. It’s in this moment that I realize that I’m a total cliché as I slip out the door.

Chapter 17

Finn

When Lucky said we had to act like nothing had changed, she’d lied. What she meant was that she was going to pretend I didn’t exist. She doesn’t acknowledge me when I say good morning. She doesn’t sneak a peek at me when I roll in wearing the biggest grin and a dapper navy suit which Timothy picked out saying he thought my new friend might like it. He doesn’t tell me why he thinks it, but I suspect it’s because it goes with a pink and blue tie I have in my closet. I could be a dust mite for all the interest she’s showing.

“Dictation in my office,” I announce. I throw the door open and wait. No one moves. Monica coughs. Cesar clears his throat. Lucky continues to tap on her keyboard. Monica makes a big deal of getting out of her chair. Cesar announces loudly that he has to go to the little boy’s room.

“I’ll cover your phone,” Lucky chirps as Cesar passes her desk.

Monica marches by me with a notebook in hand. “You were all over social media again,” she tells me.

“With this suit?” I flick my lapel.

“No, for your antics last night. Someone took a photo of you carrying a woman over your shoulder. She had long brown hair and a pink dress. What did you want to dictate?” She taps a pen against her notebook.

A wedding announcement? Maybe if I just brought a priest here, I could tie the knot with Lucky and be done with this whole charade. But she’d probably just not say a word so the vows couldn’t be completed. What I need is bait that she can’t ignore.

“I want you to call the nearest animal shelter and have them bring over their kittens. And old cats. And throw in a couple of dogs, too.”

“Sir?” The pen falls out of Monica’s hand and falls to the floor. Monica’s worked for me for a long time, but this is the first time I’ve seen her so flummoxed, which tells me that my idea is brilliant.

“Animal shelter. Cats. Dogs. A whole menagerie.”

She won’t be able to ignore the pets unless she is heartless, but I know from our time last night that she runs hot as lava.

An hour later, I can’t hear myself think over the barking of the four large dogs crowded into my office along with half the staff, but it’s worth it because Lucky is sitting in my chair holding a kitten on her lap while another one crawls across my desk. She swipes the furry thing off before the feline can chew a hole through my computer cable.

“I’ll take that one,” I offer.

Lucky shyly hands it over. I let the little thing crawl up my suit to perch on my shoulder. The claws leave a few snags behind that I don’t think Timothy will appreciate, but I don’t care because Lucky’s gorgeous eyes are shining bright with happiness.

“I should probably adopt this one.” I pat the small head.

“Just one? What if he gets lonely?”

“Did I say one? I meant two…or three?”

“Three might be a lot but two would be good. They’d be friends.” Lucky stands up and plucks the kitten off my shoulder. She sets the two on the floor. “I’m sorry I ignored you earlier,” she says quietly. Her head is lowered and I have to lean in to hear her. “I was feeling awkward. I haven’t done this before.”

A rush of satisfaction drives away all the irritation I had earlier. Of course she doesn’t know how to act because she’d never spent the night with a man, never had her pussy tasted, never had a cock so close to her. “Baby, it’s okay. It’s all new to me, too.”

Her head comes up and our gazes lock, hers full of surprise and mine full of rueful warmth. “Did you think I did this every night?”