Anderson Stause was not a man capable of stealing my heart.
Quite frankly, he was not a man capable of stealing the pepper grinder sitting between us on the candlelit table.
There was nothing overtly wrong with him (other than the fact that his jawline reminded me of Bob Belcher). There was nothing overtly right with him, either.
To be completely frank, he was blander than unseasoned oatmeal.
Nice, but not kind.
Well-read, but not intelligent.
Aesthetically pleasing, but not handsome.
He didn’t possess the same powerful magnetism Zach did, nor the boyish, enthusiastic passion that lit a fire in his eyes.
“I’m so pumped we get to eat here.” Anderson splayed a napkin on his lap, grinning. “I’ve always wanted to try this place, but I could never get a table.”
I surveyed the room.
We’d settled at the table not even a minute ago, and already he’d polished off all the complimentary bread, chugged down two cocktails, and pocketed the fine utensils.
Where did Dallas find this guy?
I offered a polite smile, still scanning the restaurant, only half-paying attention. “Hmm.”
My eyes landed on Zach and Eileen three tables over. As if sensing my gaze, Zach twisted his head, zeroing in on me with uncanny precision.
As soon as he drank in the dress, his expression darkened, brows pinched together. A tingle zapped down my spine. I swallowed my saliva.
I’d never seen him like this.
So… uncontained.
Eileen sat across from him, talking a mile a minute as she toyed with the stick in her cocktail.
I brought my cherry drink to my lips, refocusing my attention on my date, giving him an honest chance. Anderson appeared to be deep in discussion with me.
“…father wanted me to go to public school. You know, so he wouldn’t have to pay tuition. All because of that so-called ‘sexual harassment’ case while I temped for Senator Hurton. Like, am I not allowed to make any mistakes? Where’s the compassion?”
Where, indeed?
Not anywhere with me, that was for sure.
The guy was a bore and a chauvinist.
Relationship engineer, my ass.
I quickly caught on to the fact that Dallas had put us together purely for the purpose of pissing Zach off. Anderson was as charmless as an overflowed trash can.
As if reading my mind, her name flashed on my phone in my lap.
Dallas:
Sorry I told you he’s cute.
Dallas:
I knew you wouldn’t have said yes if you realized he’s a dud.
Dallas:
FYI, he was also accused of sending unsolicited nudes, but I know you can make dumplings out of his nuts if he oversteps.
I sighed inwardly, making a mental note to get back at Dallas.
Meanwhile, Zach and I had engaged in a stare-off.
Neither of us turned.
Neither of us picked up our utensils.
Neither of us moved.
Eileen tried to draw Zach’s attention back to her, her behavior at odds with my initial impression. She flipped her hair, pushing her tits together in her gown, giggling like a schoolgirl.
My body hummed with jealousy, barely catching the ping of another text.
Anderson didn’t even notice when I checked my phone as he droned on.
“…barely graduated because I was too busy helping my mom set up her new Hamptons house after my parents divorced, so he had the audacity to cut me off the inheritance…”
I kept my phone in my lap, swiping my finger across the screen.
Zach:
What are you doing here?
I answered quick.
Farrow:
Eating. Drinking. Flirting.
I looked up.
Zach was reading my text.
Eileen had finally noticed something amiss. With a pout, she peered around, spotting me. Her lips pressed into a hard line.
She guzzled down half her drink.
Zach:
You’re not flirting with this guy.
Zach:
He’s not your type.
Farrow:
How do you know?
We were now openly ignoring our dates.
Zach:
Because he looks like a clump of talc powder and is probably just as riveting.
I hated that he was right. And I hated that he was giving me crap for dating someone when he was literally doing the same.
Farrow:
For your information, he’s fascinating and nice.
Farrow:
Might take him home.
Zach:
Don’t you dare even joke about it.
Zach:
You’re mine.
He was unapologetically possessive, when he had no right to be. White-hot anger coursed through my veins.
Before me, Anderson had moved on to discussing whether unsolicited nudes could even be considered harassment.
Without thinking, I reached across the table and clasped his hand in mine. He gasped, but his surprise morphed into cockiness quick.
With a grin, he kissed the back of my hand. Bile hit the edge of my throat.
He scooted his seat closer. “I see I’m not the only one who noticed our chemistry.”
Bitch, the only chemistry going on here is the botulinum toxin I want to feed you.
“The chemistry is there.” I tried to keep my wince in check. “I feel it, too.”
The phone in my lap pinged in quick succession.
Zach:
You’re letting him TOUCH you?
Zach:
Are you fucking kidding me?
Zach:
Meet you out front in two minutes.
We’re leaving.
Farrow:
You are not the boss of me.
Zach:
FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME, I LITERALLY FUCKING AM.
But it was too late.
I’d made up my mind. And what I needed right now was to get out of here. The food, the cocktails, and the glitz weren’t worth it.
Dallas was wrong. I didn’t need this at all. I knew I should’ve stayed in bed with hot cocoa and my Kindle.
“Would you mind if we go somewhere else?” I pried my hand away from Anderson’s, wiping it on my dress beneath the table. He’d guarded it like a Venus flytrap. I needed a whole battalion to uncurl my fingers from his. “I…” Can’t face my boss and his fiancée for fear I’d combust. “…need to get out of here.”
“You sure?” His forehead creased. “Because Mr. Costa mentioned the meal will be free…”
“Positive.”
I stood, wondering if Anderson could be any less appealing, when he snatched a bamboo skewer from the hors d’oeuvres and used it as a toothpick.
Yup. A new rock bottom.
I set my napkin on the table. “Excuse me while I go freshen up. I’ll be right back.”
Anderson saluted me. “Take your time. I’ll work on the entrées in the meantime. No reason they should go to waste.”
Suppressing a head shake, I weaved through the sea of tables, slipping into the women’s restroom.
I clutched the edge of the shell-shaped sink, staring at myself in the mirror. “Get yourself together, Fae. He’s just a guy.”
“A pissed off one at that.”
Zach slipped inside, locking the door behind him. I swiveled, my lower back pressed against the damp vanity top. He strolled toward me, a dusky mist of wrath purring around him.
My heart stumbled to a screech, missing a beat. Every muscle spasmed at the mere sight of him.
He pressed against me, his entire body covering mine. “What are you doing here?”
Losing my mind.
But on instinct, I tilted my head back, feeling the hot bulge of his cock against my thigh.
“Enjoying a meal and a handsome man.” I desperately needed to remind him—and myself—that I was a free agent. “I told you we’re not exclusive. There’s nothing you can do about it.”
His cock jolted between us, digging harder into my thigh. “I can think of one thing I can do about it.”
Liquid desire flooded the bottom of my stomach. My nipples sharpened into little pink diamonds.
“What would that be?”
“You.”
He fisted my hair, bringing my face to his and crashing his lips over mine. The kiss seared through my lips, evaporating my anger, confusion, and doubt.
He bracketed my cheeks with his palms, drawing me closer, like he wanted to devour me whole, swallow my entire body, and leave nothing of me to anyone else.
“Mine,” he growled into our kiss, biting my bottom lip, his hands roaming, fingers curling around my body.
Now he was the octopus, trying to take over every cell of my being.
“Mine, mine, mine,” he repeated, deepening our kiss, hand snaking between my thighs.
Zach’s fingers traveled along my slit through my panties. A moan escaped me. I decided I’d hate him properly after we screwed each other’s brains out.
His lips journeyed south, along my body, hiking the minidress up my thighs in rough jerks.
His mouth was everywhere—covering my nipples through my dress, biting the sensitive flesh of my waist, licking and sucking every inch of bare skin peeking through my outfit.
He lowered himself to his knees and tugged my underwear aside, penetrating me with his tongue.
I arched my back, opening my legs for him, one hand propped on the sink and the other clasping his hair. “Zach.”
He fucked me cruelly with his tongue, clutching my ass cheeks with punishing force. His pinky teased my tight hole through my underwear as he ate me out like a starved man.
I lolled my head, the pleasure building inside me too intense, too much.
His fingers sank deeper into my ass. “This dripping pussy is mine.”
I clenched his tongue in a death grip, already close to the edge.
“This ass is mine,” he continued, biting the junction between my ass and inner thigh, swirling my clit with the tip of his nose. “Every single breath you take belongs to me.”
I rocked back and forth against his greedy mouth.
He rolled down his zipper, shoving his pants off as an orgasm ripped through my body. “You can flaunt your dates all you want, but you will never escape me.”
He rose to his feet, hoisted me over the marbled sink, and pushed my knees apart. With a snap, he tore my panties, thrusting into me like a man possessed.
I felt him stretching me to the max, the scent of latex mixing with sex.
Someone tried to wiggle the doorknob from the outside. My heart jolted as Zach slammed into me, withdrawing, then pressing home again.
In the past two weeks, we’d gone through two super packs of condoms. I should’ve been more accustomed to his size by now. But I wasn’t.
I panted, pretending to care about anything other than being fucked by him as I wrapped my arms around his neck. “They’re going to catch us.”
My fingernails dragged through his biceps, refusing to heed my own warning. I propped my chin down, watching as his cock disappeared inside me and reappeared again, gleaming with my juices.
Through the thin layer of rubber, I could still make out the thick, veiny ridge.
The door handle stopped rattling, the sound replaced by loud knocks. “Oh, come on. I have to pee.”
Laughter leaked from my throat.
“Shh.” Zach pressed his palm against my lips, shutting me up as he picked up the pace, fucking me deeper and faster. “Be a good girl and take my cock quietly. Yes. Just like that. You’re doing such a good job.”
With his free hand, he peeled off one of my shoulder straps, releasing my breast. It was full and engorged, begging to be touched.
He lowered his head to take my nipple in his mouth. Every nerve ending in my body blossomed into goosebumps.
I cried into his fist, clutching on to him harder. My second climax rushed like a current along my body. Each time he entered me, the tip of his cock hit my G-spot.
Stars filled the back of my eyelids.
The knocking on the door intensified.
“Please tell me you’re close.” His mouth moved over my nipple, his thrusts becoming jerkier and less controlled. “I can’t fucking take it anymore. Your pussy is milking my cum one drop at a time.”
The door rattled with force now. “Hey.”
Someone drank their twelve glasses of water today.
“I’m close,” I whimpered.
He removed his hand from my lips, swallowing my moans as we kissed. His warm cum filled the condom as he came inside of me.
We both trembled in each other’s arms, sweaty and shattered by our orgasms. For a long moment, we just held each other, his forehead resting atop of my shoulder.
His hard breaths shot down my spine.
Neither of us wanted to move.
To return to the real world.
“I’m going to combust here.” Pee Lady smacked the door again. “That’s it. If you don’t open up right now, I swear I’m calling the manager.”
Zach and I stared at each other. He withdrew from me slowly, dick half-mast, knotted the used condom, and flung it into the trash can.
I clutched the counter behind me, struggling to catch my breath.
He pressed a soft kiss to my lips before a polite, distant smile took over his face.
“Remember, Octi. You can date whomever you want and sell yourself stories about moving on from me, but I will always be the one to fuck you. The one to make you cum. The one to own every inch of you.”
He zipped up and strolled to the door, unlocking it. The blonde twenty-something on the other side backed up, flustered in her smart business suit.
“Hush money.” Zach produced a wad of cash from his pocket, tossing it in her general direction. “Run your mouth, and I’ll run your life to the ground.”
Ever so casually, he walked back to his date with Eileen.
Leaving me thoroughly fucked, both physically and mentally.
