The One: The Complete One Series Collection (14 page)

“It’s not fair, is it?”
Cessily snuck up on me, waving a full bottle of wine. I held out my glass for a refill.

“What’s not fair?”

“Him.” She nodded at William. “He’s smart. Funny. Runs a ridiculously successful company. And even though he’s my little brother, I have to admit he’s handsome. On top of all that, he’s probably the best guy I know.”

I took down half of my wine glass. “Tell me about it.”

Cessily smiled. “You’re in love.”

I glared at her, but her smile was contagious. “I didn’t stand a chance against the charming William Connor.”

Cessily looked at William, then at her mother. Jean had been sitting quietly in a chair near the window, watching her grandchildren. At least, that’s what I had thought. But now that I looked closer, I saw that she was actually watching William.

“I know Jean has been terrible to you, and there’s no excuse for that. But she’s more damaged than anyone knows.”
Cessily took a swig out of the wine bottle. “What happened with Chris, it nearly destroyed our family. We were all a mess, but our mother lost her son. Her little boy.”

She looked at me earnestly. “To make it so much worse, she still had Will. This exact duplicate of the boy she lost. A painful reminder every day of what had been taken from her. For the first couple of years, she would sometimes call him Christopher. It would just slip out of her mouth. It traumatized Will, but it nearly killed Jean.”

“That’s horrible. I hadn’t thought about it that way.” Poor William. For the last 25 years he had been living with the shadow of his dead brother hanging over him. I even began to feel sorry for Jean.

“I catch her watching him,”
Cessily said. “Even now, it’s like she can still see Chris sitting there next to Will.”

William sensed that he had an audience and he glanced up, a perfect smile on his face. I smiled back, wishing we were alone so that I could take him in my arms and work to erase those years of pain. I suddenly felt that I was being watched as well, and when I looked at
Jean, she wasn’t glaring at me. She caught my eye and very slightly nodded her head. For Jean, it was the equivalent of a giant bear hug.

I crouched next to William and he ran a tender hand over my cheek. “What’s with the grin?” he said.

“I think your mother is warming up to me.” He raised an eyebrow at that. “Plus, you look adorable holding that Barbie.”

William actually blushed. “I’m getting in touch with my feminine side.”

“Uncle Will. Stop talking and put this dress on Barbie.” William’s niece, Callie, thrust a pink dress into her uncle’s handle. William frowned and stared blankly.

“What’s wrong? Were you hoping for something strapless instead?” I couldn’t help but tease him.

William lowered his voice and leaned close. “I’m really only good at the undressing part,” he said with a wink. “This isn’t exactly playing to my strengths.”

“Men.” I shook my head at his niece and took both Barbie and the dress. “They are so helpless sometimes.”

Callie giggled and rolled her eyes at him. “You’re helpless, Uncle Will,” she agreed.

After the kids had gone to bed and the adults were done playing nice, William cornered me in the kitchen and made me pay for my teasing. “You turned Callie against me,” he said with exaggerated seriousness. “That really hurt.”

“I had no idea you were so sensitive.” I feigned remorse. “I promise to never tease you for playing with Barbies again.”

“I think you are missing the point here,” he said.

“Just be glad our relationship is a secret at work. Otherwise I would totally have taken a picture and sent it to everyone at Gravity.” I smiled sweetly.

“Oh, is that how we’re going to play this?” William’s smile was pure evil. “I’m pretty sure I could have taken some incriminating photos of you as well.”

“Point taken.” I held out my hand. “Truce?”

William looked at my hand and shook his head. “No handshake. We’ll seal this deal in a much more enjoyable way.”

With that, he grabbed me and tossed me over his shoulder. After climbing two flights of stairs with me dangling over him, smacking his ass, William was slightly out of breath. Once my feet were back on the ground, I felt brave enough to resume my teasing.

“Maybe you should sit down for a bit. Take a break,” I suggested, only half-joking.

“You think I can’t handle this?” William asked defensively.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “If you think you’re up for it, prove it to me.”

William’s eyes sparkled and he smirked. “Challenge accepted, Olivia Harris.”

CHAPTER FOUR

William’s family left the following morning and we had a few blissful hours until we had to leave for the airport to catch our flight. It was a Monday, and I should’ve been at work, but William assured me that Gravity could survive without me for one more day.

I indulged in a long shower after William disappeared into his home office. He had an important conference call that was going to take most of the morning so I tried to occupy myself as non-erotically as possible. After my shower, I pulled on a thin robe and scanned the room for something to keep me distracted.

I dried my hair. I put on some makeup. I packed and repacked my suitcase. I even tried to read a book. But nothing worked. Knowing that William was so close made it impossible for me to focus on anything else.

I tiptoed down the hall and pressed my ear to his office door, just to see if maybe his call had ended. When I touched the door, it pushed open and I spotted William pacing in front of a large wooden desk. Another man’s voice bellowed from the speakerphone.

“This is your problem now, Connor. I wrote you a check to make this your problem instead of mine.”

William leaned on the desk. I could tell that his shoulders were tensed. “I can assure you that I take Gravity’s responsibility over this issue very seriously, but this has not stopped being your problem.”

“Connor, don’t fuck with me. My company is in the shitter, my kids hate me and my wife is a bitch that hasn’t touched my dick in three years. If you can’t make this problem go away, then you need to tell me now so I can find someone that can fix this.”

Whoever was yelling at William continued to spew a tirade of curse words and insults. William backed away from the desk, turning as if he knew I was there. He smiled and put a finger over his lips, gesturing for me to come in.

I opened the door as quietly as possible and William pushed the mute button on the phone. “Dennis Jeffries is being investigated by the government for embezzling funds from his clients,” he explained.

Dennis Jeffries was the owner of one of the largest investment first in Chicago. “Did he do it?” I asked, not that it mattered. We actually preferred it when our clients were guilty. The innocent ones didn’t need a lot of crisis management.

“Of course he did.” William unmuted the phone. “Dennis, I’ll be back in town later tonight. I think you should come by the office in the morning so we can discuss this in person.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me, son? I’m a powerful man and if I want to talk all day, you better listen.” William hit mute again.

“Only the guilty ones make a power play like this,” he explained, his jaw tight and his eyes stormy.

I noticed for the first time that he was dressed in his normal attire- gray suit pants and a pinstripe dress shirt. This was the William Connor that people didn’t dare mess with. Dennis Jeffries was about to learn that lesson.

I was still wearing the robe and William reached over and pulled the belt loose. I let it fall open and slipped it off my shoulders until it lay in a pile at my feet. Very slowly, I took a seat on his desk, spreading my legs. William’s breathing picked up and he stepped between my legs. His hand slid up my leg and across my thigh at rapid speed until his finger was inside me and his thumb was pressing on my clitoris.

I moved against his hand and let out a moan, glad that the phone was still on mute. Dennis hadn’t stopped talking. William added a second finger to his exploration, and unmuted the phone.

“Dennis, I understand the urgency of the matter, I assure you. But we can talk about this in the morning when I’m back in town.”

William thrust his fingers in and out rapidly, rubbing on exactly the right spot. I bit my lip to keep from crying out as Dennis yammered on. I was dying to let go but I had to hold back. I decided that William needed to be suffering as much as me so I reached over and undid his belt as quietly as possible. After I undid the button on his pants, I lowered the zipper quickly and thrust my hand inside.

I heard him gasp as I closed my hand over his hardness. He returned the favor by sticking his tongue in my mouth, moving it in and out to match what his hands were doing below. I used my free hand to explore his pockets, feeling a thrill of triumph when I felt the familiar foil packet at my fingertips. All the while, Dennis continued his rant.

At last, William had enough. “Dennis. Come into the office tomorrow. Don’t call me back today or Gravity will deny you representation.”

He hit the button that would end the call and let out a frustrated grunt. I couldn’t tell if it was because of the call or because of me.

“I’d say that call went well.” I yanked his pants and underwear down, freeing his erection.

William removed his fingers and pulled me to the very edge of the desk. I leaned back as he put the condom in place. When he was done, he leaned over me and I could feel his erection pressing against me. With his hands on either side of me, he said, “That was probably my best call ever.”

“Enough of the phone sex.” I spread my legs even wider and moved against him, giving him no choice but to take me right then.

The desk was the perfect height for sex, we discovered. As William grabbed my hips and slammed into me, my spine pounded against the desk. It was painful, but only just, and I found that it only added to the pleasure of William’s thrusting. Each plunge into me was harder than the last, and it was the fastest he had ever brought me to orgasm. As my body clenched violently and then released, William continued to drive into me. After just a few more grinds against the desk, he let loose with one final grunt.

Satisfied, he kissed me hard on the lips. “We need to make office sex a more regular occurrence.”

“I concur.” It had been a little rough, yes, but it had also been amazingly good. Yes, the long-lasting, tender sex was wonderful, but sometime a girl just needs a quickie.

William helped me to my feet and I pulled the robe around me, trying my best to hide the painful twinge I felt in my back. “According to the news, there is a big storm headed this way. I called and got us on an earlier flight out. We need to head to the airport in about an hour.”

“I guess I should get dressed then.” I gestured to the robe. “Unless you think this is considered appropriate flying apparel.”

“It would certainly make the TSA pat downs more interesting.” William followed me to the bedroom.

He got busy packing his suitcase while I got dressed slowly. My back was really sore. I had my underwear and bra in place when William heard me wince while trying to pull on some jeans.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, spotting the red marks on my back. “Shit, Olivia. Why didn’t you say something?”

“It’s no big deal.” I tried to shrug it off but that only made me wince again. “Honestly, I barely even felt it at the time.”

William came over to get a close look. His hands moved over the length of my back, working a powerful healing magic in the process. “You’re already starting to bruise,” he said, very quietly.

“I bruise easily. Honestly, I’m fine. I promise.” To prove the point, I pulled on a light blue button down and quickly worked the buttons.

“Livy,” William said, taking my hands. “You have to tell me if I’m hurting you. I don’t ever want to be that guy.”

“I know you don’t. And you’re not.” I lifted our entwined hands and kissed each knuckle. “I enjoyed every minute of our desk activity. I swear.”

William didn’t look convinced but he let me finish dressing. It wasn’t until we were on the way to the airport that he brought it up again.

“How are you feeling?” he took his eyes off the winding road for just a second.

“Tired.” I feigned a yawn. “This wild sex maniac I was staying with wouldn’t let me get a full night of sleep all weekend.”

“I’m serious,
Liv. How’s your back?” William was holding my hand and he caressed his thumb over my knuckles.

I couldn’t believe the effect such a slight touch on my hand could have on the rest of my body. “William, please let it go. I don’t want to fight with you about this.”

“We’re not fighting. I just want to make sure you are being honest with me.” William pressed down on the accelerator as he pulled onto the highway. “I clearly hurt you, so you might as well stop denying it.”

I took my hand back. “William, what you saw was nothing. I’ve been hurt much worse than that.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth I wanted to take them back. It was the absolute wrong thing to say. I had just brought up the one thing that was very likely to set William off. “That son of a bitch,” he said, knowing that I had been talking about Paul. I could hear him grinding his teeth and he was gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white.

“That’s not what I meant.” Except that it was. “I was just trying to point out that what happened back there was a consensual act. I could have told you to stop if I really wanted to, and I know you would have. But I didn’t want you to stop.”

William refused to look at me. He was still thinking about the many different ways he would exact his revenge on Paul if they ever met.

I unbuckled my seat belt and scooted closer to him. I had to straddle the gear shift, but I didn’t mind. I placed one hand on William’s thigh and kissed him on the cheek. “I know you would never intentionally hurt me, William. And I love you for that.”

I rested my head on his shoulder and waited for him to respond. After just a brief hesitation, he let out a breath and wrapped an arm around me, kissing the top of my head. “I love you for so many reasons, Livy.”

We made it to the airport in good time and by the time we boarded the plane, our tense conversation was long forgotten. I also discovered why William always flew business class.

“I’m not a snob,” he insisted as I teased him about our upgrade. He waited for me to take the window seat. “I just don’t like flying.”

“But you fly all the time.” I shook my head in awe. His newly exposed vulnerability only made him even more attractive.

“That doesn’t mean I like it.” He glanced around nervously. “There are less people in business class and therefore less people to see me have a panic attack.”

“You’re joking, right?” But one look at his face said that he was dead serious. “I can’t believe you’re a nervous flier. This is so fascinating.”

“Well, I’m glad I could entertain you.” William’s face grew very somber and he actually looked slightly sick.

As much as I wanted to continue to tease him, his obvious discomfort tugged at my heart. I took his hand and kissed his cheek. “I guess I have to add this to the list.”

“What list?”

“The list of surprising and adorable facts about William Connor. I think it goes above your phobia of the color orange and below your inability to dress a Barbie doll.” This time I kissed his lips and then rested my head on his shoulder.

“I don’t have a phobia of the color orange. I just don’t like it.” William leaned his head against mine and sighed contentedly. “I think I wouldn’t mind flying if it could always be like this.”

He changed his mind pretty quickly once the plane started its takeoff. I felt his breath catch in this throat as the wheels left the tarmac. It wasn’t until we were in the clouds that he began to breathe more regularly. He finally settled in a little once we reached our cruising altitude and started working furiously on his laptop. I was completely exhausted and dozed next to him for most of the flight. Occasionally, I would open my eyes and catch him gazing at me. He would smile and rub my leg and I would drift back to sleep.

“We made it,” I said, stretching sleepily as the plane touched down. “Did you have a good flight?”

“Funny.” William smoothed down my sleep-hair. “I would ask you the same thing, but based on how loud you were snoring I’d say it was a successful flight for you.”

“I don’t snore.” I stuck my tongue out at him.

“Mr. Connor,” the flight attendant interrupted us. “I hope you had a nice flight.”

“It was fine, Courtney.” William took the coats that she handed him. “Thanks.”

She smiled at him and then shot me an annoyed look before walking away. I disliked her immediately, with her perfect hair and fake smile. “Courtney? First-name basis with the stewardess?”

“Just because she’s a stewardess, I shouldn’t know her name?” William shook his head. He stood and waited for me to step into the aisle. “That’s pretty snobby of you, Olivia.”

I laughed. “Please. You aren’t that oblivious.”

He started at me blankly.

“She totally wanted to fuck you. Probably against the wall in the tiny airplane bathroom.” I headed down the aisle, stopping when the man in front of me bent to tie his shoe. For the record, I did realize that I was being a little crazy. But William said he liked a little crazy.

William scoffed. “Don’t be crude, Olivia. Jealousy isn’t an attractive trait.”

“So you’re saying I’m not attractive?” I had to fight to keep back a smile. The traffic jam had been cleared and I continued to move away from William. He caught up with me at the gate.

“What just happened?” William pulled me to the side and ran a frazzled hand through his hair. “Are you seriously mad at me right now?”