Connections (9 page)

Even when she’d been with Miles, her cheating scumbag of an ex-boyfriend, the two of them would sometimes go months without sex.
 
And Olivia had always felt like something was missing between them when they did eventually get around to doing the deed.
 
She realized now that it was passion and lust and longing.
 
She felt all of those things with Alex—along with much more—which was why she felt so satisfied and complete when they were together.

Olivia sighed heavily, rolling over onto her side.

To go from having sex almost everyday to not having sex at all for the past week was cruel and unusual punishment.
 
But she’d been the one to insist…although she didn’t know how much longer she’d be able to wait.
 
Her reasons for not having sex in the first place now seemed unnecessary and, frankly, just impossible.

Glancing over at the nightstand, Olivia read 3:16 on the clock.

Good thing the orgasm made her sleepy because, after last evening, she definitely planned to sleep until noon.

* * * * *

Alex pushed away from his desk on Monday night, frustrated and pissed off.
 
He’d been in a bad mood since Sunday afternoon, when he went into the office only to discover that a packet of sales spreadsheets he’d given to his assistant to complete had been completely half-assed and mistake-ridden.
 
He’d spent the majority of his day redoing them himself, which resulted in no other work actually getting done.

And today, he’d been furiously playing catch-up.
 
A stern conversation with his assistant this morning had set the mood for the entire day and even though his assistant was sucking up to him to atone for his mistakes, it just served to piss Alex off even more.

Fuck it
, he thought silently.
 
Olivia would be closing up her shop right about now and he still had to prepare dinner before she came by his house in another hour or so.

Alex felt some tension leave his body at the thought of seeing her.
 
Hell, if he played his cards right, he could probably convince her to give him a massage.
 
That
would be the highlight of his whole week.

Well, having sex with her would be the highlight of his whole week, but at this point, he’d take what he could actually get.

After he left the office, it only took him another half hour to reach home.
 
He loosened his tie and shrugged off his jacket when he walked in the front door, but he didn’t change clothes.
 
The quietness greeted him, the air cold since he hadn’t been home all day.

He flipped on the gas fireplace so it would be warmer for Olivia and turned on the living room and kitchen lights.
 
Despite the cold, modern feel of his home, the lights cast a warm, yellow glow on the gleaming countertops and hardwood floors.

He saw Bubbles quietly waiting at his sliding glass door.
 
Ever since he and Olivia had lured her in, the pure white cat had been a regular visitor inside Alex’s home.
 
Her bowl was now permanently a fixture on the floor next to a set of kitchen cabinets.
 
Alex let her in and filled her bowl before starting on dinner.

He decided on grilling steaks for them tonight and he’d just started up the barbecue in the backyard when he heard the doorbell ring.
 
His hands were still dirty from seasoning the steaks, so from the kitchen sink, he yelled, “It’s open, Liv!”

He heard the front door open and then smelled lavender a few moments later.
 
He glanced over his shoulder, still lathering his hands, and smiled for the first time all day when he saw her.
 
She had a box in her hands and she set it on the counter before rounding it.
 
He leaned down to give her a kiss when she stopped at the sink next to him.

“Hi, darling,” he greeted.
 
She smelled like soap and the tips of her hair were wet so he figured she’d went home before driving over.

“Hi,” she replied, her eyes glittering as a smile lit up her face.
 
Her eyes went behind him and she laughed, surprised.
 
“I see that even you couldn’t resist the cuteness of Bubbles.”

“I figured I’d keep him around.
 
He gets me brownie points, remember?” he asked lowly, purposefully deepening his voice as he teased her.

She blushed but regardless, she raised a brow sassily and corrected, “Her.
 
Bubbles is a her, remember?”
 
He knew that—he’d been the one to check, after all—but he loved to see her get feisty.
 
Alex watched, drying his hands on a dish towel, as she squatted down in front of the cat and petted her head gently.
 
After making cooing sounds that were reserved for babies and animals, she looked up and asked, “How are you today?
 
Did you give your assistant a talking to?”

He nodded, leaning against the counter next to the raw steaks.
 
He’d called her last night once he got home from the office to rant about his day.
 
“I think I almost made him cry, but I didn’t think I was being unreasonable.”

Olivia bit back her smile.
 
“You underestimate how intimidating you are.
 
Poor kid,” she teased, as she rose from the floor.

He didn’t want to talk about work, so he gestured to the box she’d brought with her.
 
“What’s in there?”

“Oh!” she said when her eyes landed on it.
 
“Well, I’ve been getting requests for gluten-free cupcakes from customers, so I had some spare time and whipped up some experimental batches.
 
They’re not half bad, I have to admit.”
 
She smiled and looked up at him under her lashes.
 
It was unintentional on her part, but blood rushed to his groin at her innocent invitation.
 
She didn’t know how truly sexy she was.
 
“I know you’re not a dessert person—which is very odd, if you ask me, and I probably shouldn’t even be dating you because it’s obviously a flaw in character—but I brought some on the off chance that you’d actually try them.”

“I like your cupcakes,” he argued, amused.
 
Well, he liked a hell of a lot more than her cupcakes.
 
He took a step closer until he brushed his finger over her cheek.
 
“And, just for the record, I
love
dessert.
 
Just not the kind you’re thinking of,” he growled softly.

Olivia bit her lip, flushing at his meaning, as she gazed up at him.
 
He stole another kiss before she could protest, but he pulled away quickly.

“I have to put the steaks on,” he murmured, before turning away from her.
 
She made a little noise of what Alex thought was protest, but when he turned back around, she was looking down at Bubbles.
 
“And darling?”

“Hmm?” she asked distractedly, looking up at him.

“I’d love to try your cupcakes,” he said, smirking.

Throughout all of dinner, Olivia had to keep chanting
I will not have sex with him
over and over again in her head.
 
But dammit!
 
The man made it so damn hard
not
to jump his bones.

And Alex sensed her crumbling resolve.
 
He was just too intuitive for his own good, because he was slowly and steadily seducing her all over again.

Maybe it was the wine or how sexy he had looked grilling a steak, but Olivia felt a strong urge to fan herself once they finished eating.
 
They were quiet as they cleaned up and once they were done, Olivia carried their wine glasses over to the couch and set them on coasters.

The gas fireplace let out waves of soothing heat and she settled down comfortably, slowing sipping her wine.
 
While she waited for Alex to join her, she pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to both Alice and Christie.

Alex raised his brow when he rounded the corner.
 
“It’s amazing to see you text on that thing, darling.
 
I’m truly impressed.
 
Although I’m surprised the keys haven’t fallen off yet considering the amount of times you have to press them to get one single word out.”

“Ha ha,” Olivia pronounced slowly, setting her phone on the coffee table in front of them.
 
Alex settled an arm around her and she breathed in his scent before explaining, “Alice closed up for me tonight to make up hours she missed earlier this week.
 
And I’ve been trying to reach Christie all day, but I think her phone died.
 
She had this huge gallery opening apparently and I wanted to know how it went.”

“She’ll probably call later,” Alex reassured her.

“You still have to meet her you know,” Olivia reminded him.

“I know,” he responded, turning his head so he could bury his nose in her hair.
 
Olivia shivered when Alex’s lips trailed down, softly kissing the side of her face until he stopped to nuzzle and nip at the tip of her ear.

She let out an unintentional moan and leaned back, surprised and aroused.
 
“You’re really laying on the moves, aren’t you, Mr. Matlock?” she teased, hoping to cover up how heavily she was breathing.

“I’m not sure what you mean,” he replied innocently, his eyes dropping down to her lips hungrily.

“Dinner, wine, the fire…the cute cat,” she whispered, smiling.
 
“It’s practically the formula for sex.”

“Mmm, who said anything about sex?”
 
He made the word sound every bit as deliciously dirty as it was.
 
“I was trying to seduce you into giving me a massage,” he countered, sounding faintly amused.
 
Yet, the bulge in his slacks said otherwise.
 
“I had a very trying day at work, darling, and I’m rather tense.”

“Oh, is that it?” she asked, unconvinced.
 
“I think we both know that a massage inevitably leads to sex.”

He grinned, unashamed, and her heart beat faster in her chest at the sight.
 
Damn, when would she ever get over how handsome he was?

“What if I promise not to touch you?” he asked.

Because I can’t promise I won’t touch
you
in places I shouldn’t,
she thought silently.
 
But she
wanted
to give him a massage, if she was being honest with herself.
 
She wanted to feel his hot skin under her fingertips.
 
She wanted to make him groan.
 
But did she trust herself?

“Alright then,” she replied, watching in amusement when he tensed.

“What?” he asked, sitting up straighter.

“Since you had such a hard day at work, I’ll give you a massage.”

Alex shook his head.
 
“I don’t understand.”

“What’s there not to understand?” Olivia asked, raising a brow as she took another sip of her wine.

He seemed momentarily distracted by the way her throat worked as she swallowed.
 
His eyes unfocused and his tongue flicked out to lick his bottom lip.
 
He shook his head, resurfacing.
 
“Massages lead to sex—,” she cut him off.

“So you admit it!”

He shot her a look and continued, “And since we’re
not
having sex at the moment, it could be very dangerous, don’t you think?”

Heat pooled between her thighs and she shifted, draining the last of her wine before replacing it on the coffee table coaster.
 
“Take off your shirt, Alex.”

“I—um, are you sure?” he asked, completely at a loss for words.
 
Olivia had never seem him like this…flustered.
 
He was always in control.
 
He was always confident.
 
She thought his confusion was charming and she was infinitely pleased with herself that she could catch him off guard.
 
It only made her want him more.

“You should take off your shirt before I change my mind,” she informed him, the edges of her lips curling up.
 
She felt flushed and light from the wine and she watched as his fingers immediately came to the buttons of his shirt.

“Well, if you insist,” he said, without hesitation.
 
She grinned inwardly.
 
That hadn’t taken long.

But the smile on her lips slowly faded when he shrugged off his button up shirt to reveal his tanned and muscular chest.

Oh my.

The fire light danced on his golden skin, languidly licking his defined chest and broad shoulders.
 
She swallowed thickly and snatched back her hand when she realized she’d reached out with the intention of touching his rock hard abdomen.
 
She wanted to get reacquainted with where that dark trail of crisp hair led.
 
When she looked up at his face, she saw his smirk.

Clearing her throat, she directed him to sit on the floor in front of her, so that he faced the fire and the TV that was mounted on the wall above it.
 
He curled his long legs under the coffee table and arranged himself so that he was comfortably settled between her thighs.
 
She gasped when he pressed his muscled back against her very core and squirmed around until he was satisfied.
 
The heated, almost daring look he shot her over his shoulder confirmed that he’d done it on purpose.

She narrowed her eyes.
 
Two could play at this game.

To start off, she lightly skimmed her fingers from the base of his spine to his shoulders, feeling his smooth, warm skin.
 
He tensed at the sensation, clearly not expecting it, but he relaxed a moment later when she dug her thumbs into his shoulder blades.
 
Olivia was enthralled with the way his muscles danced and rippled under her touch.