Running From Noel Read online

  Before I left, I heard Everly tell her aunt, “That’s him.” I wondered if she was talking to her about dinner this evening. Or if she had been telling her aunt about how much of a jackass I was. Right now, I didn’t care. Her aunt had met me and that was what mattered.

  I unlocked the door to my office and walked in, only to slam it shut and lock it again quickly. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to find, but a naked Ashlee sprawled across my desk wasn’t it. “Put your clothes on.”

  “Don’t you want me? Don’t you want to take me before everyone shows up for work? I mean with all the flirting you do with me. I can be anyone you want me to be. I’m really flexible.” She said as she twisted her leg behind her head, exposing everything to me.

  I was almost disappointed with the next words out of my mouth. “If this was any other day, any other month, any other city, I would say bend over and don’t make a sound. But this isn’t and I won’t. Now, put your clothes on and I will pretend this never happened. Okay?”

  She slid off my desk and started to gather her clothes, making sure to turn her tight little ass to me every time she bent over to pick something up off the floor.

  I ignored her and went to sit at my desk so I could get to work for the morning. Only problem? My chair was missing. I hadn’t seemed to notice that it was now in the middle of the room where Ashlee was sitting, spread eagled, her hands running over herself.

  I had to give her points where they were due. She sure didn’t give up easy. Thankfully she had dropped the shades so no one could see the little show she was giving. I appreciated it, but not enough to turn me on. If anything, I was more pissed off that I wasn’t getting any work down right now. Growling I grabbed her arm and spun her out of my chair. I bent her over my desk, and she let out a feral moan.

  Great, just what I needed was for her to get hot and bothered more than she already was. I didn’t have time for this shit though. I brought my hand back and laid it across the bare skin of her ass, leaving a solid red handprint in the middle.

  Ashlee cried out in a mixture of shock and arousal. I pulled her up and spun her toward the door. “Get dressed and get out. I told you, I have work to do, and so do you.”

  She nodded and dressed quickly, her face flushed as she swayed out of my office, leaving the door opened while she sat at her desk and squirmed staring at me.

  It felt like whenever I looked up for the next few hours she was sucking on her finger and grinding down on her chair while she stared at me. I just ignored it and continued to work. I didn’t want to come in on the weekend, I wanted to explore more of LA County. Maybe hit Disneyland. Or Universal. There was the Harry Potter Land I hadn’t been to here.

  Maybe I could convince Everly to let me take her and Madison to one of them. Show her I was interested in more than just her. Or not. She seemed very protective of her daughter and who could blame her. I would be just as protective if I had a daughter.

  At near lunchtime Everly graced me with her presence.

  I looked up to the knock on my door was pleased to see her standing there. Ashlee looked pissed off and that made this even sweeter. I nodded at Everly. “Can I help you? Why don’t you come in and close the door?”

  “Thank you for bringing my aunt up to me today. She can get lost in here sometimes and it was nice knowing she was able to get around okay. She said she liked you, that you were a gentleman to her once you stopped hitting on her.” She gave me a look that could kill weaker men.

  “I thought she was you. You smell the same.”

  “Well, at least you redeemed yourself. That is something that most don’t. She doesn’t like a lot of people.” She smiled at me then and shook her head. “When I told her it was you I was going out to dinner with tonight she told me to go and not worry about when I came home. It’s been a long time since I went out, even with friends, and she doesn’t mind watching Madison I guess.”

  “Still on for seven? Or do you want me to pick you up earlier? Our reservations are for eight. I guess I need your address too, huh? Can I make a confession?” I gave her a secretive smile.

  “What Noel.”

  “I haven’t asked anyone on a date since I asked you out to dinner in college.” I wondered if she would believe me. It was true. I hadn’t dated. I had fucked them and left them.

  “I wouldn’t believe that. You have a reputation.” She walked to my door and opened it, glancing at Ashlee who was standing outside it, her ear pressed against it. “Seven is fine. I’ll email you my address.” She slid past Ashlee who just stood there glaring at me.

  “You would rather go out with that nobody, that prude? You would rather go out with that than with me? I am ten times the woman she is.” She stood in my doorway shaking with rage.

  “Ashlee, can I give you some advice. From someone who’s as sex hungry as you? Don’t wear your pussy on your sleeve. It’ll get abused. And worn. And then when someone who could take amazing care of it and make you weep tears of joy as you came repeatedly screaming his name, you won’t feel a damned thing because you have let the whole town play in it before him.”

  “How… How dare you suggest what you are suggesting. I am none of that. You could have had a great time with me. An amazing time even. But no. You want that … whatever she is.” She stormed away and tripped over the corner of her desk, stumbling into her chair.

  I stood from my desk and walked to my door. “This attitude of yours is why we could never work Ashlee. You can’t keep a secret and you’re too bitchy.” I shut the door before she could respond.

  I had plans to finish making for tonight, some of which involved wine and hopefully a trip back to my place to finish what we started eleven years ago.

  Chapter 6

  Everly

  Ashlee had lost her damned mind. I couldn’t believe her. Well, I guess I could. She had screwed the whole office. Everyone knew it. I was surprised that Noel hadn’t fucked her with his reputation. I needed to keep an open mind though because I didn’t need that negative drama when I was going to get caught up with Noel and possibly try and tell him that we had a daughter.

  It was two and I was already ready to leave for the weekend and never look back. Well, not until Monday. My planner was in front of me, so I flipped through it to see what I had left to do for today and saw I had a meeting at three with the restaurant that was going to be catering the office party.

  Grinning, I grabbed my purse and walked out of the office and into Noel. “What’s up? I have a meeting soon so if you want to talk, you have to walk with me.”

  “I’m heading out because I have a couple of errands to run and I seem to keep getting all of my work for the day done early. No reason to stick around if I have nothing to do. Makes it easier because then I miss all the after work traffic too. Nothing like not having to sit in rush hour traffic in Los Angeles I am discovering.”

  I laughed at him. After all the winter driving and traffic jams in Boston and he couldn’t handle the ones in California. Still didn’t explain why he had come looking for me though. “And you thought I needed to know you were leaving why?”

  “In case you came back looking for me and ran afoul of Ashlee in her present mood. It’s lethal.” He had the gall to at least look remorseful about it.

  “I don’t want to know what went down between you two. She has just as bad a rep as you did in college, and I see it’s just as bad now if she’s any indication.” I couldn’t let myself go back down that path if I wanted to not back out of the plans we had made already. Because I knew that I would if it came to that.

  “Nothing. Except kicking her out of my office naked this morning. Well, I made her get dressed first.” We stepped onto the waiting elevator and I hit the button for the garage.

  “Did you tell HR about that? It’s not the first time she has done that to someone. We’ve had four people quit because of her and her sexual advances.” How typical of her. Trying to get into the new guys pants. I mean, yeah, he was hot, I knew how great he wa
s, but if he wanted her, he would go after her himself. I already knew this.

  “I don’t want to get her fired. I did want to teach her a lesson, but I am not sure how well that went over.” He dragged his hand over his face as we stepped out of the elevator.

  “What do you mean teach her a lesson?” I gave him a side-eye as we walked toward my car.

  “Don’t worry about it sweetheart. Just know it didn’t work. It backfired, and it’s on me.” Noel stopped and looked around confused. “Where are we at?”

  “Garage. You know that place where everyone parks their cars. Well, us normal folks park their cars anyway. What? You use the valet?” I was only teasing him, but a part of me also knew that it was a real possibility that he did use the valet and didn’t even know that the employees had access to the garage. Just another way it showed we came from separate worlds.

  “Well, thanks for walking me to my car. You should go up to the valet and get your car. I have to go to my meeting. I’ll see you tonight.” I unlocked my car and got in. Before I even had a chance to put the key in the ignition Noel was sliding into the passenger’s seat and buckling up.

  It was almost embarrassing having him in my car, knowing he probably drove a car worth a couple hundred thousand dollars. “What do you think you are doing?”

  “I am going to go with you. I want to see what you do. I’m off for the rest of the day. Teach me something new. Consider it a company investment to take the new lawyer with you.” He just smirked as he settled into the well-worn leather of the seat and let his scent invade my car.

  “Okay. It’s going to be boring for you.”

  “Sounds perfect then.”

  We pulled up in front of E.P. & L.P. in West Hollywood and I went inside to meet with the owners. We were renting the entire restaurant for our party, the upper deck and the second floor for maximum privacy. The place was perfect. And any business partners that were invited were sure to be impressed with this location.

  “Hey, you made it!” Louis walked out from his kitchen and into the main dining area. “I’d shake your hands but I’m still prepping dinner. Give me a second and I’ll be back.”

  Noel looked over at me with a raised brow before looking back toward the kitchen. I watched Louis come back toward us, drying his hands off on a kitchen towel and sit across from us.

  “Thank you for meeting with me today.” I grinned at the man across from me.

  “We needed to discuss your menu for your party. Let me see the numbers so I knew the cost we are looking at.”

  I slid my pages across to him and moved my hand back into my lap. This was the most important event of the year for the employees, and if I did it right, for my daughter as well.

  “Four-fifty? The upstairs is only slated for three hundred at a time. You wanted this floor too, right?” He continued to stare at the paper in his hand, his other hand ticking his fingers together as though he was calculating something.

  “At the most. And not everyone will be staying the whole event. We expect mingling between both floors during the event, and we are going to be running a silent auction for a club at my daughter’s school during the event. I was wondering if you would be interested in donating anything to the auction?”

  Noel tapped his foot against me when I asked, almost as though I had committed a social faux paus I knew nothing about. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but a look exchanged between the guys and her cleared his throat.

  “I don’t want to undermine you here, but as the company lawyer that would actually be a conflict of interest for him to donate anything to do with the restaurant. People would be more likely to bid on that item because of the venue. If he would like to donate, might I suggest something from one of the many other venues related to venue itself?” Noel was smooth. I had to admit that. I would have never thought of what he did on the spur of the moment.

  “Thank you for your input. I do like that idea. Of course, the donation is completely optional. We love your venue for its fusion and ability to be both standing and sitting. It appeals to younger and older clientele, which we have. We would be perfectly happy sticking to a catering menu for as large a group as we have, or a hor d'oeuvres menu. I would leave that up to you. Allergies are listed in the paperwork.” I stopped to look at Louis.

  He was taking notes. “What about a hibachi grill? We could keep cooking small portions quickly going like that.”

  I nodded enthusiastically. “Perfect. Different meats grilled to order. I think that everyone would really like that, especially because it’s all adults this time. Anything else you can think of Noel?” I turned to the man sitting next to me.

  “Nothing I can think of. Thank you for your time Louis and I look forward to seeing what you have set up for us closer to the party.” Noel stood from his seat before standing behind me and slightly pulling my seat out.

  I was starting to stand when my phone buzzed in my purse. The meeting was over, so I reached in to see who was calling. The screen read Aunt Gracie. Holding her hand up she motions to Noel she needs a minute. He nods and heads to the front door.

  “Hey Auntie. What’s up?”

  “Hey, what am I supposed to feed that picky ass child of yours? She says all she wants is to eat pasta and I am fresh out. Sides, you know your uncle can’t be eatin’ all those carbs with his diabetes. So, what should I feed her?”

  “Her and her pasta addiction. I swear. Make her some American food. Or Mexican. I don’t care but get the child to eat something other than pasta.” I started toward the doors. I had Noel with me so I couldn’t just pick her up something and swing by my aunt’s and drop it off.

  “Fine. If she’s hungry when you come get her later it’s on you.” She hung up the phone and I just laughed. What would I do with that daughter of mine? She really was a lot like her father the more I spent time around him.

  “Everything okay?” Noel watched me walk toward my car.

  “Yeah. Madison can just be picky sometimes about what she wants to eat. Most nights she wants pasta. My uncle is diabetic though and can’t have noodles all the time so when my aunt watches her I have her make something not pasta for Madi. I swear that child is going to be the death of them.”

  The deep laugh wasn’t what I expected from Noel. I had already told him too much about her, and I didn’t want to tell him anymore than that. “I seem to remember a girl in college who couldn’t get enough noodles. Or so everyone said. I never had the chance to find out.”

  Guilt flickered through me again. Guilt at leaving, at never seeing what we could be, guilt at ten years of Madison’s life wasted because I was scared of telling her father what had happened.

  “Well, I used to love pasta. Then I had a daughter who decided that that was the only food group in the world, and I started to hate it.”

  “Explains everything.”

  We rode the rest of the way in silence back to the office, so I could drop Noel off to get his car.

  “Well, it’s only four, so I think we are making good time. I’ll see you in a few hours?” I tried not to make eye contact when I stopped and waited for him to get out of my car. It was hard having him this close for so long, his essence seeping into everything, but worse knowing tonight I would be completely surrounded by him.

  I felt his hand, fingertips brushing against my skin, as he swiped a piece of hair behind my ear before lifting my chin to force me to look into his eyes.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t kiss you unless you tell me to. But I know you want me as bad as I want you.” I wanted to move my head away, to hide the truth in my eyes, but he wouldn’t let go of my chin. “Don’t deny it. The tension, the longing, the need has never left. You can cut it with a knife whenever we are together.”

  “Out of the car. I’m not ready for this conversation.” His hand dropped from my face as he opened the door and stepped out before leaning back down.

  “Don’t fool yourself, this conversation will happen though. One way or another.” Th
e glint in his eye told me everything he said was true.

  And that conversation was going to be a long one when it happened.

  Chapter 7

  Noel

  Crazy. That’s what she was making me. After dropping me off so I could get my car I raced home as quickly as possible and hopped in my shower. I had to do something before I exploded in my pants.

  As I stood there stroking myself, I imagined what she would look like sprawled out under me, head thrown back, calling my name. I stroked faster, playing with the grip I had on my cock as I worked it with the soap in the shower, pretending it was her hot pussy wrapped around me.

  Before long I felt the familiar feeling working up my legs as I jerked erratically into my hand, my orgasm hitting so hard that I came all over the shower wall three feet in front of me. I braced myself against the shower, trying to regain myself.

  The last time I had done that was when I was with Everly. I hadn’t reached a peak like that in years. But here, surrounded by her scent in my shower, I was able to take my fantasy to a new level.

  Killing the water, I stepped out of the shower and checked the time. Half past five. I had half an hour to finish getting ready before I went to pick her up.

  My suit was already laid out on the bed, so all I had to do was step into it. My bed. Empty. Lonely. Missing the love and warmth of a woman. Sure, I had had a lot of women in it, but none of them mattered. None of them were Everly.

  I finally had a chance to fill that void in my bed and I was going to take it. I had to know what it would feel like to wake with her, to fall asleep wrapped up in her.

  Fuck me. I was turning into one of those Hallmark Holiday saps. I got dressed and went downstairs, opening my fridge to see what I had to drink and grabbed a Weihenstephaner. I needed a beer, and for an alcohol-free one this was the best. It still tasted like beer. The perk being I could drive and drink as many of them as I wanted.