Love to Hate You Chapter 10
NASH
The dinner is boring as hell, and I don't like the way Jordan Lowe looks at Charlie. Hell, he's old enough to be her father and he's very clearly flirting with her throughout the entire evening. Its starting to get on my last damn nerve. After we eat, I decide I've had enough of this stuffy crowd. While people bid on items at the silent auction or wander over to the dance floor, I take Charlie's elbow and guide her over to the elevator.
“What're you doing?” she asks.
“Going to get some air. I've had it with the heated looks Lowe keeps sending your way."
Her mouth edges up as we step inside the cab. “Do I detect a note of jealousy?”
My eyes narrow and I hit the button for the rooftop. “Maybe,” admit. “Would you like that?”
“Maybe,” she says and places a hand on her hip.
“Vixen,” I growl.
Thirty floors up, the door opens, and we walk out onto the rooftop terrace. I'm glad to see no one else is up here. Charlie moves past a couple of chairs and a couch and heads straight over to the wrought-iron railing. She leans against it, gazing out over the city, and I join her.
The weather is cooling down and summer is quickly turning into fall. While Charlie admires the view of the Hudson River, I admire her. Christ, she’s gorgeous. Her medium-length blonde hair blows in the cool breeze, and I see goosebumps prickle her bare skin.
“Are you cold?" I ask and run a hand along her upper arm. She hisses in a breath at my touch and when she turns to face me, I can see her nipples through the thin silky material of her dress. F**k. Instant, raging hard-on. I can't remember the last woman I wanted this badly. Her effect on me is insane and I lose my train of thought whenever I'm in her presence.
Yeah. I've never wanted anyone quite like this. Charlie Langley is on an entirely different level and fucking her just went to the top of my to-do list.
“Jordan was wrong, by the way,” I say, continuing to caress her arm.
Si
“Stunning doesn't even begin to do you justice tonight,” I say and step closer. “And you're far more beautiful than Margo Robbie!”
take her face in my hands, unable to believe how soft her skin is, and lower my mouth to hers. The kiss deepens and she tastes like champagne. Just like the bubbly, she goes straight to my head, and I run my hands over her bare back. “so damn soft” I murmur between kisses. I've never felt skin like hers and I want to feel her silky body beneatt mine, completely naked.
Pulling her closer, my lips drop to her the curve of her neck, and I leave a trail of steamy, wet kisses there. She's driving me to the edge and desire pulses through me. I know this can’t go on much further or I'm going to blow. When my hands round over her a*s and squeeze, she moans.
“Nash,” she murmurs, hands gliding through my hair. “What're we doing?”
“Kissing,” say and nip her bare shoulder.
“This is crazy,” she says and leans into me even closer.
Fuck.l hold her pelvis against mine and grind, letting her know how much I want her. “But it feels so good, baby." With a shaky sigh, she extricates herself from my hold and stumbles back. “That's the problem.”
When I move closer to pull her back into my arms, she places a hand against my chest. “I don't need complications right now.”
“Am I a complication?” I ask. And, yeah, it kind of hurts my feelings to hear that.
“A huge one;" she says. “I can't afford any distractions.”
“So, which is it? Am I a complication or a distraction?”
“Both.” She pushes me back a step and turns around, smoothing her hands down her dress. “I'm sorry, Nash” she says, not even looking at me. “You and I can't happen.”
When she starts to walk away, I reach out, grab the silky edge of her dress right where it dips at her lower back and stop her.
“Nash-" She tries to tug herself away, but 'm not letting her go anywhere. Instead, I slide a hand down the back of her dress, and she gasps.
“Your ass is like silk; I whisper in her ear and caress the round globe. She isn't trying to pull away anymore and, instead, drops her head back against my shoulder, chest heaving. My finger slides under the flimsy elastic edge of he thong. With a sharp flick of my wrist, it snaps and she gasps again.
I pull the g-string out and it's a sexy, barely-there scrap of lace. Charlie turns around and watches as I tuck it into my jacket pocket. “I think we can happen,” I tell her in a low voice. “I think we can, and we wil. It's inevitable."
For a long moment, she can't seem to find the words to respond. “You're crazy.”
“Crazy for you, baby."
“We can't cross that line,” she says.
“The lines are blurring”
“That's why we need to stop.” Her gaze drops to my pocket. “Give those back to me?”
“Hig
“I want them back now.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“God, no”
I sigh. “Okay maybe it's a little soon for trust. Even a little too soon for you to come home with me right now.”
“I'm not going home with you."
“That's why I'm taking these," I say, hand still wrapped around her thong, hidden in my pocket. “Gives me something to look forward to.”NôvelDrama.Org copyrighted © content.
“You're completely infuriating”
“But in the best possible way, right?"
“We need to get back downstairs."
I offer my arm and she ignores it and heads back to the elevator. Damn. Seducing Charlie Langley isn't going to be easy. But I'm fucking determined.
Unfortunately, after what happens on the rooftop, she’s just as determined to stay away from me. Days turn into weeks and the more time that passes, the more infatuated and impressed by Charlie I become. She's so damn smart and the hardest worker I've ever met. Once she sets a goal, she pulls out all the stops to make sure it happens. She works like a beast and her dedication to TB Tech is almost fanatical.
We've been spending a lot of time working on the presentation for Jordan Lowe's company and I don't mind at all Watching Charlie's gears turn and listening to all of the great ideas she comes up with is inspiring. She's a force to be reckoned with, and it's strange to say, but I feel proud of her.
Today's been extra busy, so we don't have a choice but to stay late and wrap up the last bit of the presentation before tomorrow. It's nearly 8:00 p.m. now and everyone has gone home. Except for the cleaning people who Charlie seems to know pretty well. She's on a first-name basis with all of them and I love how she takes a few minutes to chat and see what's happening in their lives. No position is unimportant here at TB Tech and she makes sure they know it.
I push my carton of Chinese food away and eye Charlie. “Ready to get back to it?” I ask. We ordered in and took a quick break, but we still have another hour or so of work to finish, I'd guess.
“Sure,” she says and takes a swig of her ever-present Diet Coke.
All night it's been harder than usual to be so close to her and hold myself back. I've kept focused on finishing the presentation for Lowe when all I want to do is push Charlie down on the conference room table and have my way with her.
Shit.I can't stop thinking about kissing her, touching her, fucking her. It's becoming a bit obsessive, and I've been carrying her G-string in my pocket since I tore it off her on the hotel rooftop.
“What do you think of this?" she asks and turns her laptop slightly.
I move around the table, lean over her shoulder and the screen blurs as I breathe in that heady vanilla scent of hers Her hair is in a low ponytail and my hands itch to pull the rubberband out and release all those gorgeous honey strands.
“Do you know how good you smell?” I ask. I'm restraining myself from touching her even though it's killing me. Charlie looks up and, dammit, those glossy lips are within kissing distance. Temptation gets the best of me, and I capture her mouth in a heated, possessive kiss. I've been dying to kiss her again and when she responds, opening her mouth, I deepen the kiss and plunge my tongue inside.
I'm standing, she's sitting and, suddenly, we're both up, grabbing at each other. Without breaking contact with her mouth, I pick her up and set her on the edge of the table as she shoves her hands into the open neck of my shirt. I discarded my tie and jacket hours ago and I'm thrilled that I did. Her nails scratch over my collarbone and throat, wrap around the back of my neck and pull me in closer.
I push her back until she's laying down, skirt hiked up around her waist, and draw her right up to the edge of the table. Right up against my rock-hard d**k. The thin separation between us makes me groan. All I want to do is sink into her and feel how hot and wet she is for me.
As I lean over her and devour her with my mouth, she yanks my shirt out of my pants, slips her hands underneath and begins caressing my back, trailing her nails up and down my bare skin. She also hooks her legs around me, heel: digging into the back of my thighs, as she pushes herself against my d**k and circles her hips.
yank my lips away. “Fuck” I hiss, breathing hard. I don't have any protection and I don't want our first time to be on a hard table at the office despite how hot it seems. But that doesn’t mean I can't do a little something for her. Dropping my hand, I slide it up her inner thigh and cover her hot mound with my palm. Her body immediately tense: “Don't stop," I say. “Keep grinding, baby."
Charlie lifts her head, blue-green eyes bright and a little dazed. “We...shouldn't..”
Can't has changed into shouldn't. We're making progress, I think, and slide the satin material of her panties over. When my fingers begin to stroke her, a soft cry echoes through the room. “You're so f*****g wet," I whisper. “I'm going to make you come hard on my hand. So goddamn hard."
Aseries of shivers racks through her body as I tease and play with soft folds and swirl a finger around her c**t. “Tell me how you like it, Charlie. Hard and fast? Or slow and-"
Her hips buck up in answer and my mouth edges up.
“Slow and teasing it is then, baby," I say and concentrate on her reactions, changing my movements up according to how her body responds. She's shaking when I slide a finger inside her dripping pussy and move it in and out. When I add another finger, she arches up and her body tightens around them, pulsing hard in a series of contractions. “That's it, baby. Come for me," I say, encouraging her to let loose as the orgasm ripples through her. Normally she's si controlled and tightly wound. I've never seen her let loose like this and it's so damn attractive.
“Oh, God,” she cries and grabs the edge of the table with one hand. “Fuck, Nash!”
Her back arches again and I finish her off. Breathing hard, she finally opens her eyes and I drop down on my elbows and kiss her deeply. The kiss is full of promise of things to come.
When we finally break apart, Charlie sits up, pulling her skirt down and has that look in her eye. The one that tells m she’s going to bolt.
“Charlie-"
She shakes her head, as though trying to clear it, and then frowns. “We can't"
“Yes, we can, and we will. It's only a matter of time.”
She sucks in a shaky breath. “I don't mix business and pleasure.”
“We can keep the pleasure outside the office, if you want," I suggest with a wicked grin.
“That's not what I mean,” she says, sounding almost distraught.
“Charlie, look at me." I grab her arms and she looks up, blue eyes wild. “Take a breath. It's gonna be okay."
But she shakes me off and slides off the edge of the table onto wobbly feet. “I-I have to go’ she mumbles and races out.
FuckThat's not how I wanted things to end. I watch her hurry down the hall, away from me, and hope I didn't just screw everything up.
Regardless, this isn't over between us. It's just the beginning and the sooner Charlie realizes that, the better.