Until Cece (Happily Ever Alpha World)

“I mean, when it’s finished, it’s supposed to be top of the line, state of the art everything, but we’re talking like… a ridiculous amount of money. I get why she’d want it, but does she have the means?” I ask, and then flush for being so intrusive. I shouldn’t be asking these kinds of questions about Winston’s wife. “Sorry. That’s none of my business. I… yeah, I’m sorry.”

He calls my name as I hurry away to check on my last two tables, but I don’t acknowledge him.

And I avoid him until we’re the last ones in the restaurant, putting the chairs up on the tables so we can clean the floors. I’m so embarrassed by my nosiness, the inability to think before I speak. It’s like I have no brain to mouth filter, dealing with other adults. It was bad enough when I told my sister’s boyfriend that he came by his hotness honestly when we first met. Now I’m asking the man I have feelings for if his wife is rich enough to buy a multimillion-dollar home? I’m mortified.

I’m putting the last chair up on the front-most table beneath the lit Closed sign, when I’m suddenly spun around by a searing hand on my bicep. And then my back is against the wall beneath one of my displayed wreaths, and I’m looking up at Winston’s intense face. His nostrils are flared, his eyes ablaze, his top lip slightly curled as he growls, “I can’t take this anymore, naekkeo.”

I swallow thickly. “Can’t take wh—”

“You promised. You promised you wouldn’t avoid me anymore. You said if I kept things platonic in front of everyone that you wouldn’t evade me, and I’ve kept my end of the bargain. And now you haven’t, not tonight. You can’t… you can’t keep you from me.”

“I’m—”

But I have no time to apologize. Not that I’d know what to say. Because his lips slam down on mine as he presses me harder against the wall. And I’m helpless to stop it. My arms come up around his neck, and as I feel his hands slide down my hips and under my ass, it’s instinct that has me wrapping my legs around him, feeling his steel-like cock behind the zipper of his jeans as he grinds into me.

Fuck, hadn’t I just been reminiscing about this only an hour ago? Haven’t I been fantasizing about reliving these very same feelings since the first time I ever felt them?

My hands slide up into his dark hair and grip tight as I take over the kiss, plunging my tongue into his mouth as my hips circle, the seam of my jeans working me into a frenzy. Our breaths saw heavily in and out as our kiss turns frantic, his grip tightening beneath my ass. Just as before, I feel the tightness coiling inside me, my core clenching, wanting something inside my pussy to bring me ecstasy.

I’m there… just a few grinding motions of my hips, and I’ll come, when a loud bang to our right makes me shriek I’m so startled. My heart races uncontrollably from both what I was just doing with Winston and also the shock of the sound, not knowing what the hell it was. My feet meet the floor, and Win backs up a few steps, looking toward the window.

Had someone seen us?

“Is there someone out there?” I whisper, my hand against the center of my chest as I stay with my back pressed against the wall.

Surely no one could see us unless they were right up against the window, and we would’ve seen them, right?

You wouldn’t have seen shit with your eyes closed while dry humping your married fucking boss again, the voice inside me accuses.

“I don’t see anyone. There aren’t any cars left in the parking lot,” he says, his hands against the window as he looks in each direction. “Maybe it was a car backfiring as someone drove by.”

Before I realize I’ve even moved, I bump into a table halfway to the bar. Winston turns, his eyes meeting mine. And it’s in that moment I know, I just fucking know, I can’t do this anymore.

I can’t pretend I can be his friend.

I can’t pretend I can be around him every single day and my feelings for him won’t grow.

Shit like tonight is going to happen over and over again until we finally snap and my morals fly out the door, and I’ll be the one having an affair with a married man. I can’t allow that. I can’t let myself become the very thing in this world I despise most of all.

“Please, naekkeo,” he whispers, taking a step toward me with his hand reached out.

I shake my head, sidestepping around the table and backing up another step. “I can’t, Winston. I can’t do this anymore. I want you far too badly, and I can’t do this. Not while you’re still married.” A tear slides down my cheek.