THE RULE OF THREE_A.C.H.E., MOTO, and TRINITY Page 8

  * * *

  After a quick pit stop at my place to change, shower, and feed Denali, Alec and I ended up at a casual little lunch place by the Garment District. It’s packed, of course, but we scored a booth and a halfway-decent waiter.

  I obviously worked up a serious appetite last night because I found myself ordering fried chicken and cheddar cheese waffles. Not a usual meal for me, but they looked so good I couldn’t pass it up. Alec went with a short rib sandwich and crispy brussels sprouts.

  We sip on coffee and ice water as we wait for our food. His fingers find mine across the table, and they do a little intimate dance as we enjoy the feel of each other.

  Alec’s presence is as commanding out of the office as it is in it. Except he’s much less intimidating in a light blue T-shirt and faded jeans. This morning, he looks boyish and buoyant. It’s easy to forget just how young he really is compared to most of the other junior partners.

  “What made you want to become a lawyer?” I ask.

  “It was challenging. It allowed me multiple opportunities to grow professionally, and it paid well.”

  “It wasn’t because you wanted to help people?”

  “Yeah, that, too.” Alec shrugs.

  I shake my head and laugh.

  “What? I am a very left side of the brain person. I analyze everything.”

  “I’ve noticed.”

  “What else have you noticed?” Alec leans over and flirts.

  Okay, I’ll play. I lean forward, as well, so our faces are only inches apart. “I’ve noticed that even though you come off matter-of-fact and cool, underneath that rigid exterior is a man who is funny and generous and kind.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “Yes,” I confirm.

  “Anything else?” We continue to move closer, a force of nature taking control of our bodies.

  “There’s one more thing,” I whisper.

  “What’s that?” His tone matches mine.

  “You’re a great kisser.” Our lips touch, but our intimate interaction is disrupted by a loud, irritated cough.

  We break apart, and when I look up, I swear I turn pale. Tage is standing before us, arms crossed, stare daunting.

  What the fuck is he doing here?

  “We aren’t getting up any time soon, man,” Alec brushes him off, of course having no idea who the man is.

  Tage slides his daunting hazel eyes over to Alec. “That’s cool, man. I’ll just join you.” He slips into the booth beside me.

  Alec is appalled.

  “Listen, asshole—” Alec’s signature short temper flares.

  “It’s okay,” I intervene before a fist fight breaks outs. “I know him. He’s sort of a friend.” I glare at Tage. I don’t know what game he’s playing, but it’s going to end right now. First, he stalks me on my date last night, and now this?

  “What are you doing here?” I cut to the chase.

  “That’s not a very nice tone to take, Everly.” Tage reaches for my water and takes a sip. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend? I love meeting new friends of yours.”

  I look past Tage at the exposed brick wall to collect my bearings. This is so not cool.

  I huff. “Tage, this is Alec. Alec, Tage,” I make the quick introduction.

  Alec looks as unhappy about our unwelcomed lunch guest as I am.

  “Pleasure.” Tage reaches out his hand.

  Alec looks at it like it’s diseased. He is the last person Tage is going to walk all over. Tage pulls his hand back, seemingly not bothered at all. He’s good at that. The brush-off.

  “So, how did you two meet?” He’s being beyond obnoxious.

  “Work,” I answer curtly.

  His attention jumps between Alec and me. “Isn’t there a strict rule about coworkers dating at your firm? It’s a no-no, right?”

  I can almost see blue flames shooting out of Alec’s eyes. “You’re not part of our firm, so the on-goings within it mean nothing to you.”

  Tage grunts. “See, Alec, that’s where you’re wrong. When it involves Everly, it will always mean something to me. And if you’re putting her career in jeopardy just to get your rocks off, I definitely have something to say about that.” Tage straight up threatens him.

  “Tage,” I hiss. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. The man has drifted in and out of my life like a ghost the past eight years, and he chooses now to manifest. He chooses now to suddenly take an active interest? “I think it’s time for you to go.”

  “I second that,” Alec spits.

  The waiter chooses to drop our food at that very moment. The smell makes me hungry and turns my stomach all at the same time.

  “I’ll let you two eat. Looks delicious.” Tage steals a French fry from Alec’s plate. “I’ll be watching you.” He leans over as he stands, getting in Alec’s face.

  “Watch, learn, and be envious.” Alec isn’t intimidated in the least. That hard exterior runs straight to the core. Too bad Tage has one to match.

  We watch him saunter out of the small restaurant, and once he’s gone, Alec zeroes in on me.

  “Explain.”

  I want to slink under the table in embarrassment.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t know what got into him.”

  “Who is he?”

  “A very old acquaintance.” I don’t even want to use the word friend at the moment.

  “And you were acquainted how?” Alec never pulls a punch.

  I don’t want to launch into my past. It’s so fucking messy. And it’s something I’m not even supposed to talk about. That was the deal.

  “Remember how I told you my parents were gone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, Tage sort of stepped in and took care of me during a very tumultuous time in my life. He’s sort of like the big brother I never wanted.”

  No, I never saw him as a big brother. He was my first love and an epic heartbreak. Being in his presence is physically taxing. My soul still calls out to him, but he made it clear we could never have a life together. We were never meant to be together. It’s taken me years to come to terms with that, and truth be told, today, for the first time, my emotions didn’t shatter when I saw him. I think Alec is filling the void inside of me faster than I could have imagined. Than I could have anticipated. He’s the new beginning I so desperately needed.

  And I like it. I want it. I want him. “He’s no one you have to worry about. I promise. He’s just protective.” I reach across the table and grab his hand.

  “He doesn’t need to be protective anymore. You have me now.” Alec squeezes my fingers. The gesture makes my heart swell.

  “I’ll make sure he gets the message.” I smile. “Loud and clear.”

  13

  Alec

  Overprotective is an understatement when it comes to Everly. The woman has completely invaded. She’s all I think about when we’re not together, dream about when she’s not in my bed, taste when I’m not kissing her.

  It’s been one solid week we’ve officially been ‘dating’, and my life feels complete. I have come to realize she’s the piece I didn’t even know was missing.

  “Alec Prescott?” A woman’s voice beckons me on the street as I reach for the door handle of a black sedan.

  I look over to find a nice-looking, middle-aged woman in a white suit standing on the sidewalk next to me.

  “Yes?”

  Her lips twist up.

  “Mr. Prescott, you’ve recently become somewhat of an interest to several of my associates.”

  “And which associates might that be?” I ask suspiciously.

  The woman just smiles wryly. “Those names will be revealed in due time. For now, I have a proposition for you.”

  “Do you now?”

  “I do.”

  “I don’t have time for propositions. If you need a lawyer, call my office. The secretary will set you up.” I jerk open the door.

  “Yes, it’s the secretary they’re most intrigued with.�
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  That stops me dead in my tracks.

  “What about her?”

  The droll expression never leaves the woman’s face. “I’ll be in touch, Mr. Prescott.”

  A moment later, a red Porsche with tinted windows pulls up next to the Town Car. The woman steps off the sidewalk in a rush and disappears inside. It speeds off into traffic after that.

  I’m left bewildered. What the fuck was that shit about? I replay the encounter over and over “It’s the secretary they’re most intrigued with.”

  An ominous feeling stabs me in the gut.

  Could Everly be in trouble? It may explain the weirdo who joined us for lunch last week. I can’t image her tangled up in anything more dangerous than Christmas ribbon. . . or the sheets in my bed.

  It’s nearly three by the time I get back to the office. I have been wrapped up in court proceedings all day and am done with this week. I just want some peace, and I want Everly.

  Naked, preferably.

  The elevator doors ding open, and like usual, Ever and Lara are sitting behind the long, sleek, wooden desk that guards the doors to the entrance of the firm. They’re like gatekeepers — no one gets in or out without them knowing.

  “Ladies,” I acknowledge them as I walk past. Lara smiles as she types away at her computer, but Everly’s eyes catch mine. They’re encased behind her black-rimmed glasses. A reel of dirty images suddenly invades me. I stop short. “Miss Paige, would you be available to work late tonight? I have a mountain of discovery I need to comb through.”

  Lara’s head snaps up as Everly answers. “Tonight? But it’s Friday? Don’t you have a hot date?” She’s totally toying with me.

  “I do.” I confirm. “But I’ll make it up to her . . . if she’ll let me.”

  Innuendo is flying all over the room. Lara doesn’t miss a beat. She knows exactly what’s up. Her expression says it all. So does mine, and so does Everly’s. If Luke was standing next to me, we would be a double duo of defiance.

  “I’ll stay if I must,” she sighs.

  “You must,” I smirk, opening the glass door.

  Back to my office I go.

  * * *

  Everly and I spend several hours reading over case documents. I wasn’t kidding when I said I had a mountain of discovery to comb though. We ordered Chinese and ate while the sun set behind the skyscrapers. New York is a magical city. So much life, so much diversity, and yet, when you look for it, so much peace.

  By nightfall, we are the only ones left in the office. It’s quiet, save for the shuffling of papers here and there. We haven’t been alone like this in my office since the case. There’s been no need. My workload doesn’t coincide with hers. If things were done the proper way, it would be Lara sitting here with me.

  But who cares about proper? Right now, the only thing I care about is spreading Everly out over my desk.

  “Ready for a break?” I ask from across the room.

  “God, yes.” She shoves her glasses up onto her head and rubs her eyes.

  I pat my lap, beckoning her to me.

  She automatically glances out the office window, but there’s no one here. “Shut the blinds if it makes you feel better.”

  After a beat, she gets up and does just that. She locks the door, too. Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.

  She crosses the room to where I'm sitting and props herself up on my desk directly in front of me. I was thinking more like she’d sit on my lap, but this is good, too. She’s wearing a black-and-white striped silk shirt and a tight-ass pencil skirt. She has a bibliophile sex appeal.

  “Hey, baby.” I rub my palms along her thighs.

  “Hey, yourself.” She rewards me with a warm, sensual smile.

  “I have been thinking about you all day.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Everly reaches out and places her hands on my shoulders. “What exactly were you thinking about?”

  “I was thinking about you, just like this.” I roll my chair closer so she’s forced to spread her legs, the hem of her skirt hiking sky-high. “All mine, to do with what I please.”

  “And what do you please?” She widens her thighs enticingly.

  “Seems the same thing you do.” I lick my lips when I get a peek of her pink panties.

  “I definitely wouldn’t stop you.” Everly leans back, supporting her weight on her hands.

  The savage inside me snarls. My woman, my property, my domain.

  Just as I reach under her skirt to rip off her underwear, I’m struck with a recollection. The encounter with the woman from earlier today.

  “Alec?” Everly whispers my name. Her hand placed gently on my cheek. “You okay?”

  I slide my eyes up to hers. They’re round, and soft, and hazy with desire.

  “Ever,” I force out. “You’d tell me if you were in trouble, right?”

  She blinks, confused. Her eyelashes fluttering a mile a minute. “Of course, I would. Why?”

  I search her expression for any untruth. For an inclination that she’s lying to me.

  But all I see is sincerity. All I feel is sincerity.

  “I just want you to know that you can confide in me. That you can tell me anything.”

  The skin between her eyebrows dimples. I love it when it does that. It’s fucking adorable.

  “I trust you, Alec. I’m not in any trouble. I promise.” She looks me dead in the eyes. “For the first time, in a long time, I’m in a really good place.”

  “So am I.” I melt under her stare. She has no idea the affect she has on me. The power she has over me. I see so much when I look at Everly. Time, space, and a future I never dreamed of having.

  We lean in at the same time, as if the universe is urging us to kiss. It’s a slow, soft roll of our tongues and a sweet, succulent suck of our lips. My hands travel back to their original destination, under Ever’s skirt. I peel her panties down her thighs and dispose of them on the floor. Before I push her back, positioning her exactly the way I want—splayed out on top of my desk—I slide her glasses down to her nose. “I want you wearing these.” Smart is fucking sexy. Hooking my arms under her thighs, I drop my head and indulge in dessert. Licking up the sugary taste of pussy I can’t seem to get enough of.

  This moment, by far, is the hottest of my life. Never in a million years did I picture myself defiling my desk, but when you have a woman as hypnotic as Everly right at your fingertips, you take full advantage.

  “Mmmm, Alec,” she moans, detached from reality as I circle my tongue and suck on her clit. I take my time, enjoying the feel of her soft flesh against my mouth and sticky moisture coating both our lips.

  Dipping the tip of my tongue into her entrance, I begin a figure eight of pleasure, moving up and around her inflamed nub and then back down again. In and out, up and down, I slowly drive her to the brink of madness.

  “Alec!” She crunches up and cries as her body spasms.

  I don’t relent, I want her to fall to pieces. I want her squirming and writhing, then screaming in ecstasy as she rains arousal all over my tongue.

  “Oh, God, oh, fuck,” she pants, pulling on my hair. My cock strains painfully in reaction to her. I love it when she comes. I love it when she’s free. It’s the ultimate fucking turn-on.

  “Ah!” Her voice pitches when she breaks, thrusting her hips frantically against my face as she climaxes.

  Everly collapses once the seizure passes. All thought and reason have been completely wiped clean from my mind as I stand and unbutton my pants. There is only one thing driving me—the need to be inside Everly.

  Once my erection is free, I slam into Ever like the savage I’ve become. I can’t even control it. My need has completely taken over.

  “Alec.” She sits up and tenses as I blindly thrust again and again, my orgasm amassing like an army prepared for battle.

  “You’ll never know how good you fucking feel.” I grab her hair as the buildup becomes volatile.

  Her pussy saturates me, my cock swells, my tailbone ting
les, and then there’s full-on destruction. I bite down on Everly’s neck as I come, the sensations tossing me around like a rag doll in a raging sea.

  I heave with Ever still in my arms. My head is light, and my limbs are jelly, but the satisfaction spreading throughout my body like warm honey is a high unlike any other.

  This fucking woman and what she can do to me.

  “Let’s go home.”

  “Can’t we just sleep here?” she mumbles lazily.

  “We could, but I don’t think my office floor is quite as comfortable as my bed.”

  “Definitely not,” she agrees.

  I kiss the tip of her nose as she hangs lifelessly in my arms.

  “You’re so cute sometimes,” she mocks me.

  “Shhh, don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.”

  14

  Everly

  I drag myself up the stairs of my apartment building close to ten p.m. It was another long, amazing week spent in Alec’s bed. For the first time in years, I’m happy. Genuinely, down-to-my-bones happy. I forgot what this feeling was like. I only truly had it one other time in my life. And after years of pursuing it, then running from it, then longing for it, I’ve finally found it again. In the most unexpected place with the most unexpected person. I finally feel like I’m moving forward and not just running on a hamster wheel.

  He didn’t want me to leave. The memory makes me smile like a lovestruck fool. He begged me to stay, to spend one more night with him. And I wanted to, badly, but I had no clothes for work. And I’d never make it in on time if I had to stop at my apartment first. Our relationship is still so new, and there is that pesky rule of no fraternization. I’m walking a fine line being with Alec, as it is. I don’t want to go totally off the deep end so soon. I understand why Lara risks it, though. I now finally understand what being with Luke means to her.

  Being with Alec is quickly becoming something just as precious to me.

  There’s such a stupid tingle in my tummy. I’m falling in love. It’s happening fast and furiously and with reckless abandon. And all I’m certain of at this very moment is that what I want above all else is a life worth living.