Page 53 of Office Affairs

She trembled one last time and did exactly what I demanded. Her head snapped back, her mouth open in a silent scream of pleasure. I locked her hips in place, holding her through wave after wave, her body trembling, as Garrett and I fucked her through the intensity. Only when she reached the other side, the echoes of her orgasm still rolling through her body in tiny jerks every time we thrust deep, did we give in and seek our own release.

Garrett found his first, his body stiffening.

I followed seconds later, my thrusts turning frenzied as I chased the pleasure waiting for me. Her name whipped the air from my lungs. I bucked into her, lights dancing in my vision as I came harder than ever before. This woman has ruined every other woman for me. I knew that as sure as I knew I couldn’t wait to fuck her again. This was more than sex. This connection between us started with attraction, but as I slowed my thrusts and watched her collapse onto Garrett, who swept her hair from her face and kissed her forehead, I finally admitted what I’d suspected for weeks. I was falling in love with her. Tonight cemented that fact. The more we were together, the stronger my feelings grew. I did not love easily. Never had. How was it that a woman half my age managed to steal my heart?

Her age had nothing to do with my feelings, only my hang-ups on what society would think. Fuck society. I withdrew from Sabrina and slid into the empty space beside Garrett. Russell took up the other side, and the four of us lay there trying to catch our breath, our limbs a tangle and emotions running high.

What did you tell the woman who’d just given you the best sex of your life?

My phone rang a sharp note that jolted me upright.

“Ignore it.” Garrett smacked at me, his hand limp and his voice sleepy.

They all groaned when I rolled from the bed and fished the phone from my pocket. The three people I cared about most were in front of me, which meant that the person calling must have bad news about something else. My heart gave a slow, unsteady thud. “Hello?”

“Mr. Grady, this is Robert Wallens from Grady Security. We’ve been notified that an alarm is going off at Grady International. Protocol states we’re to call you and wait for instructions.”

“I’m on my way.” I shoved my legs into my pants as I ended the call. “We have a problem.”

28

SABRINA

I checked my phone for the hundredth time since Chase and the others rushed from my bedroom in the middle of the night. Nothing. I’d left Chase a voicemail after sunrise with no answer. “Fuck.” I hated being shut out like this. The incessant gnawing of abandonment wrapped around my throat, threatening to choke me to death. It said they didn’t want me anymore, that they’d gotten all they wanted from me and now I was on my own. Again.

Not true. Closing my eyes, I forced my turbulent thoughts back to last night and remembered every touch, every word.

No human could shut that off without a backward glance. An emergency at Grady pulled Chase away from me. Nothing else. The fact that he hadn’t called to update me meant nothing.

And I refused to sit here moping all day. I heaved my sore body from the bed and dressed in a casual print dress and low-heeled sandals.

Keith stumbled from his room and plopped onto the couch. “Are we going somewhere?”

“Yes.” I managed a tight smile. If I couldn’t get ahold of Chase to find out how I could help him, I’d go see my father. We needed a resolution to our problems. One way or the other. “How about we go see Grandpa Leon at work?”

“Awesome.” Keith bolted from the room and tore down the hall. His bathroom door slammed, and I had just enough time to wonder if I’d made a huge mistake when he raced back into the room. “Ready.”

“Great. Let’s go.” Smile still in place though it felt wrong and uncomfortable considering I had no idea what we’d be facing, I ushered Keith from the house and into the car. Dad was still ignoring my calls, but surely he wouldn’t leave us standing outside his office door. I just had to get past the dragon lady he called a receptionist. As long as Bailey hadn’t gotten ahold of the woman, I had a chance.

Keith wiggled in his seat and chattered. “Do you think Grandpa will be mad at me for getting into a fight? Garrett says I did the right thing. And so did you. So, if Grandpa gets mad, does that mean he’s right or wrong?”

The menagerie of questions rattled around in my brain the entire drive. “I think it’s complicated,” I finally offered when Keith continued to pursue the same question.

The modest skyrise where Dad worked loomed three blocks ahead. I tightened my grip on my meager control and willed my emotions not to run away with me. I was capable of a calm, controlled conversation.

Darkness closed in around us when I pulled into the underground parking lot. Everything looked the same, from the bright white lines on the concrete to the old, white-whiskered man sitting in the booth by the elevators. I nodded and passed him a stack of quarters. “Tell your granddaughter to play a game at the arcade for me.”

“Maybe you could bring Keith by sometime to play.” He tipped up his cap and grinned at Keith. “She’s always looking for someone to challenge her in air hockey.”

“We’d like that, wouldn’t we, Keith?”

He put his palms on the low counter and jumped until he could high-five the old booth keeper. “Tell Keisha I said hi. I miss her at school.”

“Sure thing, son.” He shot Keith a wide grin. “Don’t be a stranger.”

It was never my intention, but circumstances continued to push me further away. We entered the elevator, and Keith pushed the button for the eighth floor where Dad kept his office. He might not have as large a company as Grady International, but he maintained a generous staff. For the first time, I wondered about Dad’s process for coming up with new tech. He’d had a few successes over the years, with his most well-known app hitting the number-one spot seven weeks in a row and cementing his place in the industry. But he was no Chase Grady.

My heart leaped into my throat when the door opened and I was confronted with the oval desk where a pencil-thin woman with thick eyebrows and hair from a fifties sitcom sat filing her nails. She even smacked her gum, and her oversized bubblegum pink earrings jangled when she raised her head.

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