“My car. Where do you think?”
I stumbled across the room and shut the door to the bathroom. Nothing about last night had been expected. Not Alexander showing up. Not the conversation. And not the sex. Had it really been how I remembered? I grinned around my toothbrush as I remembered the first orgasm, then the second. The way he was so powerful and in control of my body. The third and then the fourth. I’d loved the way he’d revealed a different side of himself last night—he’d removed the stick from his ass and focused on making me come in the best possible ways.
“Come on,” he yelled from the bedroom. “Checkout’s at ten.”
I rinsed my mouth and swung open the door. “Are you always this chirpy in the morning?” I put my hand on my hip and narrowed my eyes at him.
“Are you always so irritable?”
“I’m charming,” I corrected him. “At all times.”
He chuckled. “I’ll try to remember that.” He pulled me close and took my face in his hands. “Did I tell you that you’re also completely beautiful?”
“What has happened to you? Is this weekend Knightley?”
He kissed me lightly on the lips and then released me. “Are you ready?” he asked, ignoring my question. His lightness had caught me off guard. Last night we’d escaped the world for a few short hours and existed outside reality. I’d fully expected to land back on earth with a thud this morning and be embarrassed by how open I’d been, by what I’d shared. But instead of feeling awkward, I wanted more of the same. More of Alexander Knightley.
I dressed in my running gear and pulled out my sneakers from the closet. “So what happens now?” I asked. “With you and me?”
“I thought you were all about living in the moment.”
I followed him out of the bedroom. How was I going to the gym this early? “I thought you were all about the plan. Working toward something that’s so far away you can’t see it.”
He grabbed my hand and picked up the pace.
“We’re going to go to the gym, then come back to the room to shower and fuck. Then I’m going to drive you home.” He stopped. “Where do you live?”
“Mayfair. Hill Street.”
He scowled. “Really?”
“My sister’s sister-in-law’s place. I told you.”
He nodded and started down the stairs, pulling me after him. “And then I’m going back home—”
“To the hotel?”
“Where I live,” he agreed. “Then I’ll try to make up for all the time I lost last night and today.”
I wanted to ask him about us. Would I see him again outside chambers? Were we still going for dinner this week?
Where the fuck had Violet gone and could someone please bring her back?
Maybe a run would do me good, get me to focus on right now, today, and let go of what may or may not come next week.
Twenty
Violet
As I turned right into the clerks’ office, I glanced over at Alexander’s closed door and smiled. He was probably busy working away in there, doing that cute little frown thing he thought made him look ferocious but actually made him look sexy.
Yesterday had gone exactly the way he’d said it would, although we made out in his car for ten minutes before he dropped me off. He was an incredible kisser. I bet he could make more money kissing for a living than he did from the law.
“Hi, Jimmy,” I said as I passed his desk.
“Violet. How was the spa?”
I pressed my lips together to smother a smile. “Good. Relaxing.” I’d returned to London boneless and ready for bed, but I wasn’t sure the spa had been responsible for that. “How was your weekend?”
“Great. United won.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant but I high-fived him anyway and made my way to my desk. On top was another familiar, shiny black box like the one that had contained my skirt. I’d never had a man buy me gifts before. Hell, I could count the number of times a guy had bought me dinner on one hand.
I took my coat off, dumping it on the chair, and pulled the ribbon off. I’d have to be quick. The others would start arriving soon. Reaching into the tissue paper, I pulled out some fabric—it was fine and delicate and as I held it up, I realized it was a sheer, black blouse. God, it was beautiful and would go perfectly with the skirt he’d bought. Voices drifted in from next door and quickly I folded the blouse, put the lid back on the box, and stuffed it into the bottom drawer of my desk.
I checked the time on my phone. I had a meeting with Craig at nine to go through my proposal and didn’t want to be late. I just had a couple of things to print off and then I’d be done. I’d worked hard on the presentation. What he’d asked me to do was far more than just clerical work. He’d trusted me to make improvements in his business. He’d had faith that I’d be able to really make a difference. Nothing I’d done since I’d walked away from the start-up had felt as important, and I didn’t want to screw this up.
Alexander and I had swapped numbers last night, and I sent him a quick thank-you. I’d messaged him last night to wish him sweet dreams, and I woke up to a reply telling me he’d dreamed of me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had butterflies at just the thought of a man.
I felt as if I were floating. I wasn’t used to being giddy, particularly over a man. Bored, yes. Irritated, for sure. But Knightley was everything every other man had failed to be. Alexander was moody and demanding. He was ill-tempered and mercurial, but he was anything but boring.
I printed off the final few things for my informal presentation and headed to Craig’s office.
I knocked on the open door.
“Violet. Excellent. Come in and have a seat. I’m excited to see what you have for us.”
I sat down at the small conference table and pulled out a pack of papers for each of us.
“So, I’ve broken down the areas for improvement into four categories: Billing, cash flow, real estate, and communications. Realistically I think we should focus on the first three because communications feeds into each of them.”
Craig was nodding as he opened his pack of materials. “Excellent.”
I took him through my report page by page, explaining where the issues were, backing up my findings with evidence and then telling him how I thought we could solve the problems. Some were simple operational solutions, but the overarching recommendation was for a new document management system that would link into the billing system and would improve cash flow.
“It’s an ambitious plan,” he said, closing the presentation and leaning back in his chair. “But there’s nothing in here I disagree with. In fact, if paid consultants had come in and made the same recommendations, I wouldn’t be surprised. Have you ever thought about doing this kind of thing as a living?”
“Like as a consultant?”