“I couldn’t agree with you more. Lexie’s home waiting.” Kade grinned.
“I really don’t need to know you’re going to get laid,” Derek muttered.
Lucas coughed.
Kade shot Derek a nasty look. “Hey, that’s Lexie you’re talking about.”
Derek held up one hand in apology. “Right. I got it.”
“No, you don’t. But someday I figure you will.” Kade rose to his feet, and both he and Derek made their way out, shutting the door behind them.
Lucas began to pack up his laptop along with some work to take home when his desk phone rang. He picked it up quickly. “Yes, Tessa?”
“You have a visitor,” she said.
“Whoever it is, I’m done for the day. And you can get going too,” he told her.
Lucas might not have a woman waiting for him the way Kade did, but he got to see Maxie at the end of the day, and that was enough to lure Lucas away from work.
“Okay, boss. I’m sorry, Ms. Sullivan, Mr. Monroe isn’t seeing anyone today,” Lucas heard Tessa say before she disconnected their call.
Maxie was here?
He jumped up from his seat and nearly vaulted across his desk in an effort to make sure she didn’t leave before he could get there.
He swung open the door, catching sight of her standing beside Tessa. Dressed in the same work clothes from this morning, she wore a simple black skirt that hit above the knee, heels, and a cream-colored blouse that showed off her luscious curves. Her hair, clipped off her face, fell over her shoulders in sexy waves.
His breath hitched just looking at her. “I’ll see her,” he called out to Tessa, who stared at him as if he’d lost his mind.
He’d probably burst through the door like a lunatic, and this woman was to blame.
“Maxie, come on in.” He gestured for her to join him, and she walked around Tessa’s desk and brushed past him as she entered.
He shut the door behind them and, because he didn’t want to be disturbed, locked it with a press of a button.
He wondered what she was doing here. He’d texted her after lunch, asking about the storage unit, and she’d said not to worry, all was fine. She hadn’t answered his reply, so he figured she was busy and he’d see her when he picked her up from work.
He walked to his desk, turned, and leaned against the aluminum, meeting her gaze. “Hey,” he said lightly.
She stood a few steps away from him. “Hi.” Her lips lifted in a smile.
He folded his arms across his chest. “So, this is a surprise.”
She inclined her head and nodded. “If you’re busy, I can see you at home later.”
“I’m never too busy for you. What’s up?”
She swallowed hard. “I had a revelation.” Her cheeks flushed at the admission, piquing his curiosity.
She placed her bag on the chair Kade had been sitting in earlier and stepped closer.
“What kind of revelation?” he asked, knowing it could be good or bad.
She clasped her hands tightly in front of her, obviously gathering her courage. “Would you agree that we’ve been… on hold?” she asked. “Since that night when we were together?”
His breath left him in a sharp rush. He hadn’t expected her to go there. All he’d been able to think about was them together, his cock deep inside her, and repeating that night. Hell yes, they’d been on hold. And his body wasn’t happy with being deprived of what it wanted, especially when she was in the room next door.
“I agree. Although I made it clear that’s not what I want,” he reminded her.
She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, and his cock jerked in his pants.
“Well, I realized I don’t want us to be apart anymore either.” She stepped closer, her fruity scent an arousing addition to his inhale.
He waited for her to continue, because as far as he was concerned, this conversation could go anywhere.
“I backed off because I needed to know I could stand on my own. But I realize now I can do both. Be independent and be with you.” She glanced up at him through thick lashes. “And you proved you understand what I need. I mean, today, you let me handle the storage unit without insisting you needed to come along. You respect me.”
“I do.”
She lifted a finger and let it trail down his chest, but he didn’t respond to the bait. Instead he waited, because his gut told him there was more to this turnaround, and he needed to hear it all.
“So I know we can … have sex and I won’t lose myself in any way.”
And there it was.
And though her eyes shone bright in her face as she admitted the reason she’d come to see him, her words didn’t bring him the relief he’d have thought.
And he knew why.
“Sex,” he said, repeating her word choice. “You’re here because you want to fuck again?”
He was deliberately cold and crude, and she blinked at his harsh tone, her hand dropping from where she’d been touching his shirt. “Lucas, I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did. Or you would have said it differently. So let’s be clear. You aren’t here because you want a relationship.” Which he did.
With Maxie it was all or nothing, at least for him. Clearly she had other ideas.
“I thought you understood. I’m barely out of my marriage, and I’m dependent on you for where I live. So no, I’m not ready for a relationship. But I don’t see why that means I have to deny us what we both want.”