Page 69 of Feels Like the First Time

Wondering what was under that coat was killing him. Just punishment, he knew she’d say. He’d take whatever chastisement she dished out, as long as he could touch her again. His mouth watered again, as he remembered the taste of her, just there behind the knee as he’d kissed his way up her legs.

He bit back a groan as he remembered everything that had followed that kiss. He pulled his hands from the front pockets of his jeans, the denim material suddenly too tight for comfort.

“I contacted your brother,” he told her, that fact suddenly popping into his head through the lusty fog. “I overheard you mention him to Brad and figured, even without the Gandalf tag, maybe I could help him out.”

Zoe stopped just a foot away from him, her scent refogging his brain as she stared, her eyes huge. He held his breath when it looked like she was going to reach out and lay her hand on his arm. But she stopped halfway and pulled back to trace a finger over his closed laptop.

“You really called him?”

Trying to bury his frustration, Dex just nodded.

Her smile lit up the room. “Thank you. I appreciate that. He’s done so much for me, I really wanted to give him a shot at his dreams.”

“Apparently he’s closing up shop,” Dex clarified. “He said he’d taken a job with one of the big boys. He sounded like he wants that, the security of it. But we’re going to get together in a week or so and talk about some side work.”

“Really? I love that idea.” Zoe’s smile was as bright as sunshine. “When I talked to him a couple of hours ago, he sounded relieved. I had no idea how much stress trying to stay afloat was causing him. Turns out he’s been thinking of going with Microsoft for a while.

“Actually—” she gave him a naughty little smile “—Meghan, his wife, started to tell me but I was a little distracted with your sexy virtual message when she was on the phone.”

She tapped her finger on his laptop, her words and the reminder flashing images of their wild avatar sex through his brain. Dex wondered what she’d say if he told her he’d saved the video and tortured himself by watching it over and over.

“You were the first one to see that,” he explained. “It was a test run of sorts.”

“I’ve never seen anything so intuitively realistic,” she commented, running her tongue along her bottom lip. She tapped her fingers over the laptop again, as if reminding him of how hot that cartoon sex had been, then trailed the same fingers down her throat, ending at the collar of her coat. She fiddled with the button, but didn’t undo it.

“Thanks.” His fingers tingled with the need to touch her. To feel her satiny skin under his hands. This was driving him crazy. He wanted to be done talking business, but realized she was calling the shots here. “It’s a take on my new project.”

“Is that where you’re going with this? Avatar sex clubs?” she teased.

He grinned, amused at the idea. “Nah. I’m not interested in social networks. I’m thinking training applications, maybe something with the military, but with a few new twists and angles.”

“Brilliant.” Her hand smoothed up and down the placket of her coat now, teasing him with tiny glimpses of bare skin here and there.

“So…” Dex hesitated. How did he put it without pissing her off? Zoe raised a brow and waited. Since he kept getting intriguing little peeks of black leather through the closure of her coat, he didn’t make her wait long. “What’re the chances that you’d come to work for me?”

She laughed.

Dex frowned. “I wasn’t kidding.”

Her smile dropped, her laughter fading into silence.

“You don’t want me to work with you. Not really.”

“But I do. You’re smart, you’re connected, you’ve got great ideas. That’s one of the things Zach mentioned when we talked, about how you were so ahead of the curve. You have an instinct for what will work and what won’t. He said if he’d listened to you, he’d have been a lot better off.”

Zoe’s face softened, a sweet look of humbled appreciation glistening in her bottle-green eyes.

“We’ll negotiate,” she said with a smile. “I’ll warn you, though, I’m not cheap.”

Figuring it was safe now, Dex stepped forward to pull her into his arms. Her hand flew up, palm out. Her smile dropped. She shook her head.

“I don’t think so,” she said, her voice suddenly taking on a commanding tone. “You’ve had your say. Now it’s my turn.”

He’d rather she have her say while he had his hands on her, but she was calling the shots here. Dex shoved his hands into his pockets to keep his itchy fingers from reaching for her. His eyes dropped to her black leather stiletto boots and his heart stopped. He remembered her body, those boots wrapped over his shoulders, and the delicious taste of her.

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