"I'm good, thank you, yes, it's fine," I said, dropping my head and looking at the floor. Jack didn't attempt to rescue me from Sloan's interrogation, and I suddenly felt the need to escape. I got up and headed for the door mumbling an excuse before I made my exit.
"Bye, Leah!" Sloan chirped as I marched past Norma's empty desk and headed back down to my office.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jack
"Why do you always have to be so mean?" I asked as I stared at Sloan disapprovingly.
"Why darlin', whatever do you mean?" she replied with a fake southern accent. "I thought that was just manners."
"What do you want, Sloan?" I asked as I decided to forgo the battle over manners, knowing she would find a way to worm out of any culpability.
"I want to talk about the plan for the warehouse and how we're going fill all of the new orders I've gathered," she smiled as she held out the customer sheets that she'd filled out.
"You're generating a lot of business," I said, sifting through the new customer orders. It was a good sign that she'd brought in so much new business in such a short period of time, but it was also a concern because construction was going to slow us down a bit.
"I thought you might like that," she said as she sat down and crossed one long leg over the other, exposing her smooth thigh and the lacy edge of the stockings that covered it. She added, "I've got plenty more where those came from."
I swallowed hard and looked away, not sure if she was talking about the orders anymore. As I looked through them, I realized that she'd targeted some of the biggest buyers in all of Manhattan and had brought in orders that would elevate our output by a substantial amount.
"When are these companies expecting delivery?" I asked as I tried to figure out how quickly we could get the warehouse ready to start shipping.
"That's the catch," she said as she dug in her purse. "We need to be ready to start filling orders by next week."
"Sloan, what the fuck!" I said a little louder than I'd intended. "You know we're in the middle of the warehouse renovation. What in the hell possessed you to make promises you weren't sure we could keep?"
"I knew you'd find a way," she said as she held my gaze, daring me to disagree with her. I shook my head and realized I was playing chicken with a woman who liked losing even less than I did.
"You seriously piss me off," I muttered as I reorganized the forms in my hand, trying to figure out just how we could make this work.
"I know," she grinned. "And it makes you want to bend me over your desk and have your way with me, doesn't it?"
"Why do you always revert to sex, Sloan?" I asked.
"Because that's the glue that holds us together," she replied as she flipped open a thick gold compact and applied a layer of fresh red lipstick. She reached out and grabbed a sheet of paper from my desk, blotted her lips, and then shrugged, "You want me. I like what you do when I drive you to the point that you can't hold back. We make a good team."
"You seriously piss me off," I grumbled.
"I know, and you love it," she smiled as she rose up out of her chair and walked around the desk. She sat on the edge of it before spreading her legs and giving me a clear view of the fact that she wasn't wearing anything under her short tight skirt. She dropped her voice and asked, "See anything you like, Jack?"
"Sloan, stop . . ." I said before tearing myself away from the view she was giving me.
"Oh, c'mon, Jack," she whispered as she shifted a little and spread her legs wider. "You know you want it."
I could feel the heat radiating off of her body and knew that I'd made a deal with the devil. I pushed myself up out of my chair and stood facing her as I ran one hand up the inside of her thighs. She smiled lazily as she spread her legs wider to give me full access.
"Sloan," I leaned in and spoke quietly in her ear as I caressed her soft thigh, reaching higher with each movement of my fingers. "I know what you want. I can smell it, and you know what, darling?"
"Mmmm," she purred as she stretched against my hand. "What?"
"I'll give it to you," I whispered as my fingers splayed her wet warmth and stroked the soft skin that lay between her lips. She moaned softly as I slid two fingers inside of her and flipped them up so that I was stroking both of her most sensitive spots at once. She moved her hips forward to meet my hand as she dropped her head backwards and closed her eyes. I concentrated on keeping the pressure and rhythm consistent and building steadily to her climax.
When she began to move her hips more insistently, I picked up the pace and stroked harder and faster, feeling her wetness cover my hand. As she headed for the finale, I could feel her gripping my fingers as I thrust up and into her harder and harder.
"Oh God, yes!" she moaned as she planted her palms behind her on the desk and violently shoved her hips forward to force my hand deeper inside of her. She whispered hoarsely, “Oh Jack, yes! That’s it! Right there!"
I felt her clench around my fingers as she reached her orgasm, and I thrust up into her, hard, and held my hand in place as she writhed on it. I watched her face as she enjoyed the rippling waves of her climax, and then once she had ceased pulsing on my hand, I withdrew it and stepped back to look at her.