Lifting his head from where it was buried in my hair, he strokes my cheek, and I feel my juices on his hands.
We stare at each other for what seems like an eternity as I wonder what the hell just happened.
“You kept your promise.” I smile softly up at him as he traces a link across my bottom lip. My lips feel swollen and used.
“What do you do to me, Charlie?” he frowns as his eyes scan my face. “I can’t seem to keep control when you are around.”
My hands trace his sharp square jaw. “Do you always have to be in control?”
A smirk hovers on his lips. “Yes, I do.”
I open my mouth to give a witty comeback but instead, a nervous giggle comes out.
Something about his tone told me he meant it.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he smiles crookedly. “I’ve been bursting to go for an hour.. Where’s your toilet?”
“Next door on the left,” I reply, lying back contentedly on the bed.
“Ok”. He climbs off the bed and gives me a loaded wink. “I’m just getting started with you.”
He stops when he gets to the door and turns around. “There’s no coming back from this, Charlie.
I’ve opened a floodgate that I won’t be able to close.”
“I know,” I whisper back from my position on the bed. His eyes travel down my body, naked from the waist down, and he flashes a boyish grin I’ve never seen until tonight.
As he leaves, I lie back in a post-orgasmic trance. Danny Walker’s hands have just been inside me. It was miles better than my fantasies, and I had fantasied about it ALOT.
I stretch my hands out on the bed and hit something hard.
His phone.
There’s a message flashing on the screen. I wonder if it’s from Tristan. If only he knew.
It’s from Jen. I sit up, suddenly alert.
I read the message, then read it again… and again.
Thanks for a lovely dinner tonight. Drop by when you are finished in the office. I’ll be waiting up x
Charlie
I jolt upright in the bed.
No, no, no, what have I done?
Danny was with Jen before he came here, and now he’s going back to her? What was this, a quick finger fuck visit?
Suddenly I feel stupid… and dirty. It’s not like I expected us to be exclusive from the brief interlude this evening but surely bouncing between two women in one day is against the rules?
Sleazebag.
Yet I can’t even blame him. Once again, I’ve thrown myself at him. Of course, he wasn’t going to stop me.
His words echo in my head. He warned me himself, and I ignored it.
There’s a reason Tristan’s warned me to stay away from you. He knows me too well.
Tears well up in my eyes. I need to compose myself before he comes back. I hear the toilet flush and grab my shorts, fumbling to get them up my legs.
I don’t want to have this conversation. What would I say? It’s not like I didn’t know he was with Jen. He never lied to me.
I yank the bedroom door open before he can walk through.
“Hey” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear and smiles down at me. Pain sears through me. “Look, you need to leave.” I rush out the words. “This was a mistake.” He freezes in the doorway.
“What happened in the time I went to the bathroom?” He asks, clearly bewildered.
I move into the hallway, side-stepping him but not before he grabs my arm. “Charlie?” His brow creases into a deep frown. “I don’t understand.” I untangle my arm and start walking down the hall.
“Let’s forget it happened, Danny.”
His footsteps follow me out into the living room.
Cat, Julie, and Stevie freeze mid-sentence as we walk into the living room.
“Can we talk about this in private?” He demands, staring at me and ignoring the other three. “What the hell is making you blow so hot and cold?”
I cast my eyes downwards. “Look, I got caught up in the moment, but it’s not a good idea. We should just leave this, ok?”
“Can you say that to my face rather than the sofa?”
“Can you please just go?” I look up at him pleadingly. If he doesn’t go, I’m going to break down in front of him.
His forehead settles into a deep frown as he watches me. An awkward silence cuts through the room. Cat and Julie sit upright on the sofa as if they stay still enough; we won’t notice they are there. Even Stevie is sitting timidly on the corner on the sofa with his back to Danny. They exchange looks between the three of them.
“Is this about the outage report?” he asks in a level tone. “You wanted me to go easy on you?”
“What?”
Seriously? That’s how childish he thinks I am? I shoot him an incredulous look. “No!” My lips form a thin line, not backing down.
After an eternity, he lets out a long sigh. “If that’s what you want.”
He storms down the hall to my bedroom as the other three stares at me, gobsmacked.
“What the hell happened?” Cat hisses, stopping mid-sentence when he appears again, with his suit jacket slung over his shoulder and his phone now in his hand.
“If you figure it out, you can enlighten me,” he mutters darkly, his dark eyes trying to make contact with mine. “Instead of this mindfuck.”
I fidget with the drawstring on my shorts and force a smile. “Bye Danny, sorry about this evening.”
“I’m not sorry,” he replies through clenched teeth.
I return to staring at the sofa, fixating on the arm rest.
Leave. Just leave.
Everyone in the room is frozen in a weird pose; Julie and Cat stare at the TV even though the sound is down; Stevie sinks into the sofa in an attempt to disappear from his boss’s boss’s boss.
Danny stands with his arms crossed, facing me, demanding me to look at him.
“Is this seriously it, Charlie?” he eventually asks in a strained voice. “What the fuck just happened?”
“A mistake,” I croak.
“Bullshit,” he barks back, slamming his hand against the wall making the four of us jump.
He breathes out angrily.
“Charlie?” he growls as he opens the door. “Contact me when you’ve grown the fuck up.”
***