PeakExperience (8 page)

“Lena it is. I suppose Thumble…”

“Is out of the question,” she finished for him. He gave her
a too-knowing smile. Anger made some of her tension slip away, but she couldn’t
be continually annoyed if she was going to work with him. “My colleagues know
we’ve met. You don’t need to be formal, but there’s no need to be too familiar
either.”

“But we’ve been very familiar, Lena,” he said in a low
voice. “And we might have been again if you hadn’t left so abruptly. I thought
we started something wonderful.”

“An orgasm does not necessarily indicate the beginning of a
relationship.”

“How about multiple orgasms?”

There was that phrase again. “Not even that, which you’d
know if you had more experience.” She couldn’t believe she’d played the age
card, but she was in desperate need of distance. Being in a room with him was
too difficult. She swore she could smell the warmth of his skin from across the
table.

“Do you have orgasms like the ones you had with every man
you sleep with or only the younger ones?” She couldn’t mistake the annoyance in
his voice. “Perhaps our night together was typical for you.”

“Of course it wasn’t,” she answered quickly.
Shit.
She needed to be more careful around him.

“Well, I think that proves there’s something different
between us, don’t you?”

She was saved from answering by the arrival of Michelle,
Gary and Michelle’s assistant. Introductions were made, pleasantries exchanged,
and the meeting began.

Lena sat there for nearly two hours responding automatically
and trying not to meet Daniel’s eyes for more than a glance. The company needs
this, she reminded herself repeatedly, and tried to do her best to sound
enthusiastic. It was the longest meeting of her life. By the end they had some
initial ideas that could be workable. Gary and Daniel seemed to hit it off and
the marketing team had a handle on where to start. Lena didn’t feel as though
she had a handle on anything, and she and Daniel were the entire design team.
Everything rested on them.

“I think this will be an excellent partnership,” Michelle
said as things ended. Lena noticed she didn’t meet her eyes when she said, “There’s
real chemistry between our creative team and Golden’s vision.”

“I agree.” Daniel looked directly at Lena when he continued.
“We have the potential to create great things together.” Lena smiled and fled
the room as quickly as she could, claiming a call with a client. Daniel may be
the younger of the two of them, but she was the one acting immature.

It took her until after five o’clock before she was
confident enough to step out of her office. Knowing Michelle would still be at
her desk, she went to talk to her. Since she was on the phone, Lena sat in one
of the cozy chairs Michelle purchased on her own to personalize the office. If
they compared the two women’s offices, people would think Michelle’s focus was
art. Her friend’s space reflected her taste and made clients feel more like
they were stepping into a room of Michelle’s apartment. Unlike Lena’s office,
which had little decoration other than art on the walls, Michelle had pillows
on the window sill, a dramatic floor lamp, and other little touches that caught
a visitor’s eye. Michelle said if she was going to spend a lot of time here,
she wanted a place she enjoyed. Usually Lena loved making a game of trying to
spot what her friend recently added, but today she was too distracted.

“I thought you’d get around to stopping by. So, how do you
think it went?”

“Horribly.”

“Really? I thought it went well for a first get-together.
We’re a great team.”

“It’s not the team. It’s Daniel.” Lena put her head in her
hands and said something into her lap.

“I didn’t catch that, sunshine. One more time, please?”

Lena looked up. “I can’t work with a man I’ve had sex with.”

“Great sex, if I remember correctly.”

Lena moaned again. “This is impossible. While we discussed
slogans, images and viral marketing, I was having visions of taking Daniel back
to my office and having sex with him on my desk.”

“Wow, love those erotic fantasies. You should go for it.
Could be fun.”

“You are not helping, Michelle. I’m already overheated and
unfocused. I don’t need to indulge my fantasies. I need a cold shower. We need
someone other than me on this account.” Even as she suggested it, she knew it
wasn’t an option.

“No can do. This account needs our absolute best—which is
you—and it was Daniel’s art that opened the door. It’s the two of you or
nothing.”

Lena nodded. She needed to make this situation work. “What
should I do? You’re the one who’s good with men. Help me.” Lena watched as her
friend thought before answering and was grateful she didn’t offer a glib
response. She had no tolerance for humor over this situation.

“There has to be a reason you were attracted to him, before
you went to bed with him. What was it?”

Lena thought back. “He was easy to talk to. He listened to
my opinions and comments and shared his own. And when he looked at me, it was
as if I was the only woman in the room. He was that way in bed too. I can’t
remember a man getting me that excited. He was so unselfish. I melted.”

“I love that feeling,” Michelle said with a sigh. Lena
frowned. “But that’s not what you want to hear. Okay, let’s focus on the first
part. You were comfortable talking with him. When you see him next, try to
concentrate on talking. Remember, you’re having a simple conversation, nothing
more. Open with a safe topic. You talk, he listens. He talks, you listen.”

“That’s it?” It sounded too simple to help the turmoil in
her thoughts.

“It’s a start, right?”

“I guess so. Thanks.” Lena stood to go then stopped at the
door. “You’ll be here if I need a pep talk, right?”

“Pep talks, shoulder to lean on, alcohol to drink. Anything
you need. Keep me posted.”

When Lena got back to her office, she found Daniel waiting
for her. She would have preferred not to see him again at least until the
morning, but she wasn’t that lucky. Over his shoulder she could see him sketching
something with wings and a woman’s body. “I thought you would have headed home
by now,” she said, trying to adopt Michelle’s advice and keep her tone light.

“Gary gave me a tour around the space, showed me some of
your past accounts and helped me get settled in my office. Never expected to
have one of those. Besides, I wanted to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“About why you left that morning without managing a simple
goodbye.”

So much for a safe topic. “It was awkward, Daniel. Staying
for breakfast would have been too weird.”

“Nothing was weird until you found out who I was and how old
I was.”

“Are.”

“Excuse me?”

“How old you are. Or should I say how young. You’re
twenty-eight.”

“Rumor has it I’ll grow out of it.”

“Yes, while I grow old. Of course, I don’t care about
getting older.” She wanted out of this conversation.

“What does age have to do with how great we were together?”

“It probably shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I guess I
don’t have the Demi Moore gene. I was nervous enough indulging in a one-night
stand with a man I just met, only to learn I hadn’t ‘just’ met him, but I knew
him when he was fifteen. It felt all wrong.”

He sat back in the chair, his long legs crossed. She wished
she didn’t notice how broad his chest looked in the plain oxford shirt he wore.
“Well there we completely disagree. I thought everything during our night felt
very wonderful.”

She saw the hurt in his eyes and hated herself for being the
one to cause it. “Daniel, you know I had a terrific time, but…” She took a deep
breath. She wanted to be honest and tell him it was one of the hottest
nights—and the best sex—she ever experienced, but what good would it do either
of them? She needed a business relationship with him, not a personal one. “It
was one night and it wasn’t meant to be more.”

“I bet I can prove you wrong.” Because of his long legs, he
was in front of her in two steps. Before she had a chance to wish she’d stepped
behind her desk, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close,
kissing her deeply. She had no time to think, let alone stop him. His mouth was
demanding but warm and her body responded at once. “I thought you were
incredibly hot in that little black number you wore to the gallery, but I have
to say, this conservative business outfit is a turn-on as well. Especially
since I know no matter what you’re wearing under your skirt, you have a
penchant for lace thigh-high stockings.”

“I’m not wearing those today,” she said when he moved his
kisses from her jaw to her neck. “Which doesn’t matter because we should not be
talking about this, Daniel, or doing this.” The fact that her head fell back
was not helping her argument.

“Then don’t talk,” he said as his hand traveled to the hem
of her skirt and then under, lifting it as he skimmed her legs on his way to
her waist. “I like feeling your heat through all these layers.”

She gasped as he cupped her pussy, knowing she was getting
wetter and there was no way he wouldn’t notice. It was as if having lost
control with him once, she couldn’t stop herself from doing it again.

Past coherent thought, except for being grateful her office
had frosted windows and they couldn’t be seen, Lena let her hands come around
his waist, caressing the muscles of his back. She’d loved the strength of him
when they were in bed together and never expected to have another opportunity
to touch him. She moved one hand to the front, unbuttoning a second button on
his shirt so she could touch the warmth of his skin. Breathing in his unique
scent, something like oil paint mixed with sandalwood, she surrendered to the
sensations of touching him and being touched. A week of fantasies had nothing
on reality. She groaned, knowing she was lost.

“You drive me wild, Lena,” he growled against her as he
lifted her onto her desk. Standing between her spread legs, he continued to
stroke her through her clothes. “You’re so responsive, so ready to let go and
be pleased.”

Ready to let go. That was the last thing she believed
herself to be. Yet she was seconds from living her fantasy of sex on the desk.
With a man who was twelve years her junior. Sanity returned. “Daniel, please, I
can’t do this. We shouldn’t do this. You’re a consultant. I’m your employer.”

“I’m hardly going to complain.”

Logic wasn’t working and if he continued to touch her, she
was going to give in. She was halfway there already. Clearly part of her needed
this, craved this, and for the first time her emotions were not taking orders
from her brain. The heat between her legs was now running the show.

Every sane thought in his head told Daniel he should stop,
but he was only a few kisses away from being able to ignore those thoughts
entirely. She claimed she wasn’t ready, but he was aching to show her how ready
she truly was.

“Let me please you,” he said and kissed her before she could
respond. He wasn’t going to give her time to think too much. He needed her to
see she couldn’t ignore him—or her reaction to him.

Because Alice was annoyed with him for disappearing from his
opening, she refused to help him connect with Lena’s company as a means of
marketing his art. Still, he was committed to seeing her again. When Michelle
called he was thrilled, even though he’d never before considered contributing
his art for such a commercial venue. He had no idea what he was doing, but to
be near Lena, he didn’t care. He was determined to make this account a success
and even more determined to make Lena get past their age difference. He didn’t
know why he was so certain there was the potential for something special
between them, but he trusted his instincts.

His fingers teased the waistband of her black bikini panties
and dipped in to caress the soft skin beneath. She shuddered, and he knew he’d
find her wet for him. Part of him wanted to linger, to make her ache more, but
he didn’t have time for that today.

Moving lower, he slid his hand inside her panties and toward
her pussy. The pantyhose made it more challenging than the thigh-highs she wore
last time, but also kept his touch close. He stroked the tight curls which
alerted him he was nearing her core, and when he felt the split of her swollen
lips he stretched a finger out to reach her engorged clit.

Now she moaned and bucked under him, trying to maintain her
balance as he stroked and massaged the sensitive flesh. Wanting to please her
more, he moved his hand farther into her panties. When her legs fell open he
knew she was his to enjoy.

As soon as he touched her, his fingers were slick from her
arousal and need. Without giving her warning he pushed two fingers completely
inside her. She was tight and the intrusion stretched and stimulated her. When
she squeaked against his mouth, he deepened the kiss, his tongue imitating the
actions of his fingers. He made a circle in her mouth and in her pussy,
touching every inch of her sensitive walls. He played with her tongue in a
flicking motion and did the same below. More groans escaped her lips as her
nails dug into his shoulders. He wished he could find the inner spot that drove
her mad but since it would require space he didn’t have, he returned his thumb
to her clit, focusing his attention on the hard nub as he continued to
finger-fuck her.

Did she know how wet she was for him? Was she aware of how
beautiful she was in her passion? God, he wanted to show her.

Lena’s head fell back, breaking their kiss, and her eyes met
his. Her pupils were dilated. She was breathing fast, her lips swollen and
slack from passion. In this setting she wouldn’t cry out her pleasure, but that
wasn’t going to stop Daniel. Instead, he intensified his strokes as he watched
her topple over the edge. She let out a strangled string of “oh no, oh yes” and
gripped him so tightly he wondered if she’d make half-moon marks with her nails
through his shirt. It would be worth it.