New York Billionaires Series

Audrey’s lips quirk, like she’s heard the subtext. That I haven’t had relationships as much as friends with benefits for years. There’s a question in her eyes, but none emerges.

I take another sip of wine and wait. But there’s only silence. “You can ask it,” I say.

“It feels presumptuous,” she says. “Asking where you and I fall on the spectrum. I mean, we work together. Or not really together, together, but… you know.”

I bite my lip to keep from smiling. “I know.”

“We went out on a date last weekend. We text all the time. We can’t tell anyone about us, of course, and yet here we are. In your apartment.”

Ignoring the half-eaten food on the plates in front of us, I reach out to tip her head back. “I’m not looking for another friends with benefit situation,” I say. “Although I would call us friends.”

“And hopefully there will be benefits?”Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

“There have been plenty already. I would have burned the steak if you didn’t intervene.”

She gives a breathless chuckle. “You make it very hard to keep my guard up.”

“Do you need it up?” I ask. Her eyes are bottomless on mine, like two pools of water where I can’t see the bottom. I think I might die if I can’t have her in my arms soon.

Audrey shakes her head. “Maybe. But even if I did, it’s come down.”

It should scare me, perhaps. The honest confession. And the feelings inside of me do. It’s been a long, long time since I felt out of control. Since words failed me and I couldn’t just laugh something off. But her confession makes something inside me ache.

“Christ, I want you,” I murmur.

She laughs, two spots of color appearing on her cheeks. “Already told you. Guard is down.”

“Doesn’t mean I’ll stop complimenting you,” I warn.

We clear the table and I watch her move through my space, the tight curve of her shirt around her chest, her body’s sinuous movements. The temperature rises inside by degrees.

Audrey notices. She puts her plate in the sink and turns slowly, catching me. “Well,” she says.

I swallow. “What do you want to do now?”

She smooths a hand over her skirt, curving down her hip. “Um, your TV looks gigantic. We could watch a movie?”

“Yes. Sure.”

When I sit down on the couch, she takes a seat a solid few feet away from me. Tension is strong in the air and it’s strung me tight. But I fight to keep my voice casual. “I have all the streaming services. Choose whatever.”

“Oh,” she says. “It’s almost harder when there are so many choices.”

“Then I’ll give you none. Put on Gladiator .”

It works-Audrey smiles. “That was fast. Also, it’s too gory for a date. What about… this one?” She uses the remote to hover over a romantic comedy. I vaguely remember seeing it on a flight, years ago.

“Sure. I’ll mostly be watching you.”

She laughs and hits play. “Honest to a fault.”

“Sometimes, at least.”

Audrey grabs a pillow and tries to get comfortable. Slides a leg up underneath herself on the couch, curling up, eyes on the opening credits.

“How did you get a TV so big?” she asks.

“It arrived in a box.”

She snorts. “Do they even make TVs this big?”

I rub a hand over my neck. Truthfully, it’s a bit too large. Ostentatious. “It was a gift.”

“From an engineer who made it themselves?”

“An investor, actually. After we made a deal. He also owns a Korean electronics firm.”

Audrey looks over at me. Her lips look soft, and warm, and too far away. “So it’s a bribe.”

“Consider it more of a gift-in-the-hope-of-future-good-relations.”

“Which is the definition of a bribe,” she says.

“Can’t fool you, can I, reporter?”

She scoots closer. “Never.”

“Are you recording this whole conversation?” I reach out and drape my arm over the back of the couch. Letting my hand brush over her shoulder. “Will I be exposed on the front page of the Globe ?”

“Watch out.” She leans into my arm, her voice a bit breathless. “I might be wearing a wire.”

I raise an eyebrow. “That sounds like something I should investigate.”

Her hand comes to rest on my chest, fingers curling around the collar of my shirt. “I think you should,” she murmurs.

I kiss her. My intention is to go lightly, to tease, but those thoughts derail when she parts her lips. Something short-circuits in my brain and I slip my tongue inside her mouth. My hands find her hips and twist her toward me. Away from the stupid TV and the joyous tones of a pop song.

Audrey’s hands slide into my hair again, the way they had just a few days ago, and I groan against her neck. The gentle tugging sends shivers down my body.

“There’s something different,” she whispers, breathless, “when we’re not doing this on steel bars two stories up.”

I grip her thighs, fitting her more snugly against me. “Yes. It’s even better.”

She chuckles, but the sound dies when I find the spot beneath her ear. It had made her tremble last time. I close my lips around it and lick softly, and as if on cue, she trembles.

I’m rock hard, near bursting in my slacks, and neither of us is undressed yet. I’m such a fucking goner for her.

She moans into my ear. It’s a quiet, wanton sound, and my hands tighten around her thighs. “Fuck,” I say. “I can’t believe the first time I heard you make that sound was on the phone.”