A Workplace Affair (10 page)

Chapter 25

Groggily my mind wakes, something has pulled me from my dreams, and I fight to stay. I’m enjoying the place my sleep has taken me to, there Leland and I are together, without the threat of him going back to his life away from Atlanta, and away from me. For a moment, I think I’ve succeeded in going back into my dreams, but then I realize that Leland’s voice is real.

“Victoria, baby, wake up.” Damn, maybe next time. Opening one eye I see that the room is still dark.

“What time is it?”

“Um, 5 o’clock.” I can hear the smile in his voice.

“Come back in five hours.” Rolling over I make one more attempt to go back to sleep.

“You can sleep on the plane, but that’s only if we get going now.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Now I’m awake, kind of.

“Just get up baby, or you’re going to ruin your surprise.” He kisses me gently on the forehead before ripping the warm covers from me.

“Fine,” Begrudgingly I put my feet on the floor “but this better be good.” Like a zombie I grab some clothes from the closet and slip them on. My own personal protest to being woken up so early is wearing the most comfortable, ugliest sweatpants I own with a simple white tank-top.

Ten minutes later we’re standing on the tarmac at a small privately owned airstrip about to board a small jet, those are Leland’s words. The small jet, which really isn’t that small, belongs to Leland.

“So, are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”

“What do you think?” Laughing he walks away from me to speak with the pilot, after about two minutes he signals that it’s time to board.

Entering the cabin of the jet, I’m standing in what appears to be a living room. To my left along the wall of the plane is a big flat screen TV and two glass front book shelves about half full of books. Across from the TV along the right wall of the plane is a long gold suede sofa that looks like it could seat about six people, along with end tables with lamps on top at either end. In the center of the room, are two recliners, one at either end of the sofa. Just beyond the chair furthest away from me is a wall with an opening on either side. I notice a small galley style kitchen to my right, and the cockpit beyond that. Following the direction my suitcase went, I continue toward the back of the plane. Behind the wall sits a small conference room, which consists of a large oval table with eight chairs around it. Again, I come to a wall, but this one has two doors, opening the door on the left I find a small bathroom with just a toilet, sink, and mirror. Having no use for the bathroom at the moment I close the door and continue through the door to the right, and into a bedroom. A queen size bed takes up a large portion of the room, sitting with the head of the bed against the left side of the plane. There is a large fluffy white comforter on top with a dozen pillows; it looks like I’d sink into its comfort the second I lay down. Before lying down, I check the doors beyond the bed, one opens to a bathroom slightly larger than the first, and the other opens to a small closet, inside sits my suitcase.

“There you are, we’re about to take off.” Leland stands in the doorway looking like a GQ model, who the hell looks that good at 5:30 in the morning! Not me, that’s for damn sure.
Subconsciously, I reach up and smooth my hair.

“You look amazing.” Looking around me I look for the mirror he must be looking into. “Victoria, stop.” He crosses the small space between us and pulls me to him. “You look amazing.” Clearly lack of sleep has gotten to him. Sweetly he places a hand on either side of my face and bends down for a mind-numbing, toe curling kiss that has me forgetting that I’m tired. Now, the only thing I’m craving is Leland. Putting my arms around his neck, I pull myself up and wrap my legs tightly around his waist. Reaching around, he grabs my ass and carries me to the bed, his weight presses me into the soft blanket, which is cool to my heating skin.
With my ankles locked behind him he presses deliciously against me, sending pulses to my core. He continues to grind against me as he runs a hand up under my shirt, his fingertips sliding under the wire of my bra to tweak my already hard nipple. I arch my back pressing against his hand and his rhythmic grinding. A small gasp escapes my lips and his blue eyes spark brighter. Lost in his eyes, and the pleasure that is looming on the horizon, I don’t notice that the plane has made its way onto the runway. As the plane taxis into place, Leland removes his hand from my breast and slides it down, under my pants and panties. Finding me wet he licks his lips and dips a finger inside me and presses his palm against my mound pushing to the brink of explosion. In one swift movement he has my pants and panties tossed to the floor, giving him better access to please me. Pulling the one finger out, he adds another and pushes both inside me, pumping in and out slowly while he fights with the buckle on his belt. Reaching up I pull his belt free, and rip his pants to his ankles. By now the plane has started down the runway, and is picking up speed. With fire in his eyes, Leland picks my legs up and rests them on his shoulder, lifting my ass slightly he pushes into me, and as the plane leaves the ground I tumble over the edge into a delirious mix of ecstasy and adrenaline. Grabbing my hips, he pumps furiously, and drives me back up, climbing towards another climax as the plane climbs higher into the clouds. My skin is on fire, and I am overcome with a need to feel his skin against mine. Pulling my shirt over my head first, I reach up and tear his away from his body, and the look of surprise on his face is priceless. Reaching up I lock my arms around his neck and pull myself to him, allowing my legs to slide down, around his waist, and continue the rhythm he started. His hands dig in on their way up my back where they fist in my hair, which has come loose and tumbles down my back. Our parted lips touch, our quick breaths mingling together, and he kisses me with a passion I’ve never known as we enter ecstasy together. Trembling we collapse together on the bed, a tangle of limbs and sweat, with his still inside me.

“So. Where. Are. We. Going.” I manage between breaths. Smacking my ass hard he pulls out and goes into the bathroom and returns with a glass of water and a towel.

“Thirsty?” He extends the glass to me, and I take a long drink and enjoy the view as he wipes sweat from his well-defined stomach. When I’m done he does the same to me, then lying beside me, he pulls me close and we fall into a peaceful sleep together. Before I fall asleep, I notice that our breathing is matched, and for a moment I think our heartbeats are matched as well. Dismissing the thought I doze, sleeping hard, and finally getting back to my dream.

Chapter 26

When I wake up, Leland is no longer beside me, and I’m cold. I pull my sweatpants on and slip a t-shirt over my head before going to seek him out. I find him, half dressed, sitting on the floor against the sofa in the living room with papers laid all around him. When I come in, he’s stops reading, and looks up at me.

“Sleep ok?” A smile whispers at the corners of his mouth. I nod.

“Did you?” He shrugs.

“For a bit, but I wanted to get this out of the way before we land, which will be in about thirty minutes.” I walk over and sit behind him on the sofa and begin to massage his shoulders, his muscles are all knotted up, and I work away at them silently. He grabs one of my hands and kisses the palm before returning to reading the papers in front of him.
Out of nowhere, Connor appears in the kitchen doorway.

“These omelets are almost ready, hope you’re hungry.” With spatula in hand he gives me a little wave before disappearing again behind the wall. Sensing my confusion Leland sets his paper down once again.

“Connor had some things to take care of where we’re going, so I let him ride along.” Leland already told me that Connor was going through a long, drawn out divorce. If Connor needed to take care of something that required he go out of state that was probably it. Which means we’re going to New York.

“Are we going to New York?” I can see the smile even though I am behind him.

“You always were smart, yes dear, we are.” I’ve always wanted to go to New York, which I shared with him one night during pillow talk.

“I’m going to go get dressed before we land.” Rising I start toward the bedroom.

“You look great the way you are, plus that elastic waistband makes for easy access.” He winks and watches my ass as I walk away.

In the bedroom, I open my suitcase to find that Leland has packed lingerie, one pair of jeans and one t-shirt. I’m interrupted by the captain’s voice coming through the speaker,
“We will be starting our descent into Morristown Municipal Airport in five minutes.”
I dress quickly in the jeans and t-shirt and head back for some breakfast, I hope Leland wasn’t planning on staying more than a day.

Chapter 27

The drive from Morristown, New Jersey took about forty minutes, and by 9 am we were standing in Times Square deciding where to go shopping for some more clothes. I’m pretty sure he packed light on purpose. We decide to try a few small shops, and end up with more clothes than I need for a weekend visit to New York, but after fighting him in the first two stores I gave up and let him buy what he wanted. Carrying bags around Manhattan is quite problematic with all the people around, so Leland hails a cab to take us to his apartment.

We arrive in the Upper West Side and stand outside a massive building, where a man greets Leland and opens the door for us both. Inside the lobby of his building has the feel of an old cigar room. A deep purple rug runner extends over the hardwood floors from the front door to the concierge desk, flanked by deep purple sofas about halfway between. The walls are painted a beautiful shade of bronze with wall lighting shining onto beautiful paintings in black frames. To the left of the concierge desk is a bank of mailboxes. To either side of the concierge desk, are two narrow hallways, walking down the hallway to the right we wait for the elevator.

Inside the elevator, the buttons indicate that there are twenty-one floors, Leland presses the button marked twenty-one. The ride up is short, and ends with us stepping out into a small foyer area with a small table, a door marked stairs, and another door with 2100 next to it. Approaching the door, Leland pushes a key in and opens the door.

“After you.” Holding the door open, he motions me inside. I don’t know what I expected to find inside Leland’s apartment, but I’m surprised at how big it is. All I have ever heard is how tiny everything is in New York. Clearly they were not talking about this place. I’m standing in a small hallway about four feet long, with a single closet on my right side. The hallway opens to a large two-story room with floor to ceiling windows that look out over the Hudson River. The living room is filled with a white sofa, two white chairs, and four black tables, and a bright turquoise shag rug is positioned underneath it all. Off the left side of the room is another small hallway that leads to an average sized kitchen, by Georgia standards, a dining room. Here again, the room is decorated in Black and white with small splashes of turquoise to break it up. Back in the living room, I cross and come to a door and a set of stairs. Taking the stairs, I go through a door into what appears to be a sun room, which opens to a rooftop terrace complete with an outdoor fireplace, and in ground hot tub. A patio table and chairs sits with a bright yellow umbrella, and two lounge chairs sit facing Central Park. The view is breathtaking.

Back at the bottom of the stairs, I go through the door and find the bedroom. Here, the black and white palate continues. The large king size bed has a black headboard and is cover in a fluffy white down comforter. On top of the bed sits a number of turquoise pillows, and black chenille throw blanket sits over the foot of the bed. The single dresser is black with silver drawer pulls on the front. The floor to ceiling windows here are covered partially by long turquoise curtains. The wood floors are stained almost black with a high gloss finish. I walk to my right and enter the massive bathroom with double sinks and a Jacuzzi tub big enough for two. Through the other side of the bathroom is a hug walk-in closet. Much like the one at the hotel, this closet is half full of Leland’s clothes.

“What do you think?” Leland interrupts my silent tour and makes me jump.

“It’s lovely. It’s a little stark for my taste, but it feels very free and open with all the windows.”

“Stark, huh?” He smiles and pulls me into a gentle hug, “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel.” I lean into him and breathe in his warm, masculine scent. I find comfort in his arms, and could easily fall asleep. “You can change anything you want about the way it’s decorated if you accept my offer.” He pulls away from me to look into my eyes before he continues, “I’ve had an amazing time with you, Victoria, and I can’t imagine coming back here without you. When I leave Atlanta, I want you to come with me, move in with me here.” I’m stunned, very rarely am I speechless, but right now I am. I take a minute to collect my thoughts, to process what he’s saying.

“I, I have to think about it.” I can see the disappointment on his face, but he quickly covers it with a smile.

“Of course you do, it’s a big decision. If you had just jumped and said yes, you wouldn’t be you.” The thought of moving to New York is scary, leaving my friends and my family, putting all my faith into one man. I don’t know that I can do that, but I don’t know if I can watch him leave either.

Chapter 28

She fits here. That’s all I can think as I watch Victoria standing in my half-full closet. I’ve watched her, walking through my apartment, trying to gauge her reactions to each room. I think the terrace was her favorite, but I can’t be sure. Now, seeing her there among my clothes, I know she belongs here with me.

“What do you think?” She jumps, lost in thought somewhere far away.

“It’s lovely. It’s a little stark for my taste, but it feels very free and open with all the windows.”

“Stark, huh?” I smile and pull her to me, “Why don’t you tell me how you really feel.” She fits here too, wrapped in my arms where I can protect her. “You can change anything you want about the way it’s decorated if you accept my offer.” Pulling away I look into her eyes, I have to see what’s there when I ask her, “I’ve had an amazing time with you, Victoria, and I can’t imagine coming back here without you. When I leave Atlanta, I want you to come with me, move in with me here.” Shock is the first reaction I see, followed by uncertainty.