“Why?”
“I want to.” His eyes lock with mine, his hand not hesitating as he sets the pen down on the counter, and reaches his hand forward. I can hear the roll of the pen as it moves toward the edge, but I can’t look away, can’t breathe, as he holds my eyes with his. “Is that okay, Kate?”
His hand closes on my thigh, a warm grip of ownership, and I close my eyes.
“Is that okay, Kate?”
I can’t answer him. If I speak, I’ll beg. If I say anything at all, he will know just how badly I want him.
He slides his hand along the inside of my leg, his palm along the lace, his thumb on my bare skin, playing with it as he moves. “Open your legs, Kate. Uncross them.”
“Trey.” It is the best defense I can manage. I think of Mira, of smelling her perfume, and I reach out to grab his wrist, to pull it away—
“Just your right hand on the counter.” He moves off his stool, coming closer, and I can smell his cologne, feel the brush of his shirt against my sleeve. I remove one hand from the counter, my body swiveling to him, and my knees brush against the thigh of his jeans. “This is market research, Kate. I’m just examining the product. Now, open your legs before I pull them apart myself.”
I open them. I let my feet hang loose from the stool and open my knees, one heel dropping to the floor, the sound loud, my shoulders jumping in response. I lift my eyes to him, and he slowly nods, holding me with his stare. He doesn’t smile, he doesn’t blink, and I’d be surprised if he is even breathing. For a moment, both of us just are. Then he drops his head, and I watch as his second hand joins in, both tracing over the place where my garters clip to my stockings. He runs his fingers up, my shirt stopping his hand, the fabric restricted by my butt on the stool. He softly clicks his tongue against his teeth. “Stand up.”
“I’m not standing up.”
“Kate.”
“Stop saying my name. I’m not standing up.” If I stand up, then my panties are going to end up coming off, and this is going to go to a very bad place, a place that I have been wanting for over a year, but that doesn’t matter right now, none of that matters right now, because this isn’t just Trey, this is the owner of Marks Lingerie, and if he—he slides his hands underneath my skirt, and I gasp when his fingers reach the bottom edge of my underwear. My other heel hits the floor.
He tilts his head, his fingers caressing the silk, then the top of my thighs, then the detailed edge between them. “Are these from the fall collection?”
“Winter.” The word whispers out of me. “Please stop.” I’m so wet. He hasn’t even done anything, hasn’t even kissed me, and I am so needy, so desperate.
“You want me to stop?” His fingers stop their play above my thighs, and he slides one slow, sure hand in between my legs, his touch soft and teasing, my legs opening wider despite myself, my hips thrusting upward, begging for him to—
He brushes his fingers across my clit, and I whimper. He slides his fingers lower, in between my legs, pressing into the damp area, and when he says my name, it is a swear across his lips. “Stop,” I beg.
“I don’t know if I can.”
Him
I mean it when I say it. I don’t know if I can stop. Not when she sits on the edge of the stool, her skirt pushed up, knees spread, her legs limp and hanging open. I stand before her, one hand squeezing and caressing her thigh. My other hand is seriously fucking with my mind. It plays with her pussy, her sweet pussy, a thin bit of my lingerie the only thing between my skin and hers. I’m terrified to move those panties aside; I’m terrified, if I touch her bare heat, if I feel the smooth skin or silky hair, that I will lose all control. If I push one finger, or two, inside of her … god damn. How will I stop myself from yanking at my belt, my zipper? How will I stop myself from freeing my cock and thrusting it inside of her? I am just seconds away from being able to have her, from gripping her ass and pulling her onto me, from pushing deep inside and fully owning this incredible woman. I could fist her hair and kiss her mouth. I could taste her, have her, please her. I could spread her open on my counter and tease every part of her with my tongue, my fingers, my dick. I could tell her how I feel and plead for her heart. I could come inside of her, and have her for the rest of my fucking life.
I could scare her away and lose her forever.
Stop, she’d said. I pull my hand away and straighten, putting one foot, then two, between us. I have to stop. I have to. Against the zipper of my jeans, my cock hates me even more.