Page 105 of Meet Me In The Dark
She strolls toward me with that deliberate ease she wears so well, but we both know the only place she wants to be is in my arms.
“What are we doing here?” she asks, looking around at the construction site.
“I’ve been away for almost a week,” I tell her, keeping my tone casual even though there’s nothingcasual about the way I’m looking at her. “I want you to update me on progress.”
“It’s going to be dark soon.”
“Don’t we always do our best work in the dark?”
Color blooms across her cheeks, and I’m already moving in close enough to trace that flush with my thumb.
“Hi,” she breathes, her smile catching me off guard.
“Hi,” I say back, but I don’t kiss her. Not yet. “Lead the way.”
She gives me a skeptical look over her shoulder, but she walks ahead.
We step inside the shell of the building, the first floor already framed out. Steel beams rise around us as the smell of fresh lumber and concrete mixes with the dust in the air. Tarps hang along the outer edges, shielding the interior from prying eyes and the bite of the wind.
She walks through it with ease, pointing out where walls will stand, where the bones of something bigger are starting to take shape.
Crossing the open expanse, she flips on a portable work light in the corner. The sudden glow cuts through the shadows, throwing long lines across the bare floor and the columns that will carry this whole place upward.
When she turns back to me, the last streaks of daylight are fading behind her, and the city skyline is fractured through the open gaps in the tarps.
“Welcome to the start of your lobby,” she says with a grin. “It’s huge, I know.”
It’s nothing but raw concrete, exposed wiring, and the echo of our voices right now, but standing here, with her in the middle of it, I can already see exactlywhat it’s going to be.
“Impressive,” I say, though my eyes aren’t on the concrete or the steel. They take a deliberate tour down her body, from the fall of her hair over one shoulder to the curve of her satin blouse, and the way that fitted skirt hugs her hips. She’s standing in the middle of a construction site, but she looks like she walked straight out of one of my better fantasies.
Her eyes track the movement as I slide my hand into the inside pocket of my jacket and pull out the scrap of lace, letting it dangle from my fingers.
The panties she slipped into my pocket five days ago.
“You think you’re not getting punished for this?” My voice is low, but I know she can hear the weight behind it.
She chews her bottom lip before the smallest smile curves there. “That was the whole point.”
Of course it was. This fucking woman.
I tilt my head toward the workbench behind her. “Turn around, Celeste, and put your hands on the table.”
Her breathing picks up, just enough for me to notice, but she turns and presses her palms flat on the surface, keeping her back straight as she waits for the next order.
“Pull up your skirt.”
There’s an audible hitch in her breath before she slides the black fabric up her thighs inch by inch.
I stand back for a moment, letting myself take in the curve of her perfect ass and the way her spine arches ever so slightly. She’s already squirming under my gaze, because she knows I’m taking my time.
And she’s completely bare.
No panties.
Fuck.
“You came here like this?”
