You’re Everything I Need: A Forbidden Romance Read online

  Yep, it’s certain. I’m definitely, one hundred percent in trouble.

  4

  Lexi

  “It’s just so good to have you back, Lexi.” Krysten gently rubs my arm and smiles. “It’s good to have you back.”

  “You know what, it’s good to be back but I never thought I’d want to come back when I first left.”

  “Yeah, you did kind of leave in a bit of a hurry. We were all quite worried at the time.”

  I blush and dart my eyes between Krysten and Flora, so grateful that they agreed to meet up with me tonight. They were my two best friends back in high school, but as soon as I met Trent everything else flew out of the window. I just forgot about everything and everyone, focusing only on him. They didn’t need to agree to see me again, but I’m so glad they did. I need them now more than ever before.

  “I’m sorry about that, and the way that I acted. I shouldn’t have lost touch with you guys. You’re the best friends I could ever ask for. I promise I won’t lose touch with you ever again.”

  “Hmmm.” Flora cocks one eyebrow at me. “I’ve heard that one before.”

  “Oh, come on! I’m not that bad.”

  “You do tend to get lost when you get into relationships. You know that, right?”

  “I suppose so. But I’m more grown up this time. It won’t happen again.”

  “You know what, Lexi, I’m just so glad to have you back. I honestly thought that we’d lost you for good.” She runs her eyes up and down me. “Although, you do look quite different, don’t you?”

  “Oh, you mean the tats? Yeah, I know.” I lean in to tell her a secret. “I also have a secret piercing.”

  “You do?” Flora practically squeals. “Where?”

  “Ah!” I tap my nose and wink. “That’s for me to know.”

  “Well, I hope no one will be finding out for a very long time.”

  “Oh yeah, I’m definitely going to stay single for a while now.”

  “So, there isn’t anyone who has caught your eye?”

  “I’ve only been back in town a couple of days, I haven’t had time.”

  “It doesn’t usually take you that long!”

  I take her playful teasing on the chin, but there’s something I’m not telling my friends yet, something I can’t tell them. Especially not so early on while we’re reconnecting. Of course there’s a guy who’s caught my eye, but he’s wrong for me in every single way. Not only is he older, but he’s my boss too. Extremely forbidden and completely unattainable. Everything that I shouldn’t like, which makes him all the more irresistible.

  “Well, I’m going to get another drink in.” Krysten rises from her seat. “But only one more for you, Lexi, because you’re starting your new job tomorrow. In an office of all places, who would have thought it.”

  I laugh and toss my head back. “I know, I never would have believed it either. This is the first day of me joining you guys in the real world and really making a go of things. I’m going to be an adult.”

  “And if that doesn’t deserve celebrating then I don’t know what does.”

  As Krysten walks off, Flora grabs onto my arm. “You know, I know we give you a hard time about stuff, but we’re so glad to have you back. We’ve missed you a lot, and we’re glad that you’re away from Trent. He was never good enough for you, it seemed to us to be toxic from the beginning.”

  “It was hard for me to see that while I was in it, but now I suppose you’re right. It was turbulent; all we did was fight. I thought that was me standing up for myself but now I can see it was more than that. It wasn’t exciting, it was unnecessary drama. He probably did me a favor by cheating on me.”

  “You don’t seem too cut up about it to be honest with you.”

  “I cried all the way up here and got it out of my system. You know what I’m like, always moving forwards.”

  “That’s one of the things that I love best about you. I know you’re all about being single at the moment, and I’m all for that, but you should probably have some hot, sweaty sex with someone to make you feel better.”

  “Ooh, that isn’t like you, Flora. I’m liking this advice!”

  “Well, it worked for me when Jon and I ended. I had a few flings and now I’m just waiting for the one.”

  “I feel so bad I wasn’t around for any of that. For you getting with Jon and breaking up with him. I feel so bad, I should have been a part of your life. There’s no excuse for me hiding away.”

  “It doesn’t matter now. We’re all good. Just glad to have you around.”

  I smile at Flora, so grateful for that chat as Krysten comes back to the table. These girls are my true friends, the people that I’ve had around me for the last few years aren’t, as proven by what happened. I will never, ever let a guy come between us again. When the time comes when I am ready to meet someone, I will make sure that my friends like him and he likes my friends. I need them in my life forever more.

  “Right, girls. Let’s cheers to Lexi being back.”

  “And never leaving you again.”

  We clink our glasses together and cheer loud, probably dragging all the attention from everyone else in the bar, but I don’t care. They all might as well not even be there, they aren’t anything to me. The only people I care about right now, are these two wonderful women in front of me.

  My friends have accepted me easily, inviting me back without complaint, but I wonder if my family will be the same. I have a funny feeling things there will be much more challenging than this. But I have to try…

  * * *

  I lie across my bed sheets smiling up at the ceiling. This apartment might not be anything great, it’s nothing like where I lived beforehand, but this is all mine. None of it belongs to Trent, which is wonderful. It’s weird how good I feel without him, almost as if we were never supposed to be together forever.

  I can’t believe it took me so long to realize that.

  I get a soft and squishy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I think about tomorrow, starting my first day at work with the very sexy Cooper. There’s something about his clean-cut, businessman look that really gets to me. He appears quite serious on the surface, but there’s a sexy teasing side underneath. We’re complete opposites, or at least, that’s how it seems at the moment, but it’s in a really hot way.

  Hot in a way that can’t ever happen. Maybe I should have asked him for a date rather than a job. Thinking about him taking me out and romancing me feels like a whole lot of fun. Too late now though.

  There’s a trickling, bubbling sensation running down my body, all the way to my core. The alcohol allows my mind to wander into a first-day-at-work that definitely can’t happen. Maybe it’s best to just imagine it, to get it out of my system so I do act appropriately tomorrow. After spending time in the office, I even spent the last of my savings on a new black, smart-looking dress so I can look the part. I need to act it too.

  “I’ve been looking forward to you coming to work for me,” I imagine Cooper whispering seductively into my ear as I slowly unbutton his shirt. There’s a wildness to his eyes, a sense that I have unhinged him. The stiff, unbuttoned look that he always has falls apart. “You make me feel all wild inside.”

  I slide my eyes closed and let my hands slowly slip down my body. I slip into my panties imagining that it’s his fingers doing all the work. I imagine he’s pinned me against his desk, my butt squashed against the wood as he runs his fingers over my slick wetness. I grab onto my hair with my free hand and plunge my fingers in deeper.

  “Oh, Cooper, that feels so good,” I pant out; I’m not sure if it’s in my imagination or real life. As my head spins wildly and I lose all control, I have no idea what’s right and wrong. “Oh, wow.”

  “I’ve wanted you ever since the first moment I saw you. In fact, I’m going to have you.”

  The image of him grows clearer in my mind and I imagine him unzipping his trousers. He holds his thick, throbbing cock between his fingers and smirks at m
e. He’s commanding, domineering, and I love it. With Cooper, such a powerful strong man, it’s phenomenal to fantasize about him taking control of me.

  “I want you to take me,” I rasp at him while my fingers pick up the pace. “Now, Cooper.”

  He teases my entrance with his cock and my back arches off the bed. I can feel him, my imagination has become so strong that I can actually feel the weight of him on top of me, pressing into me, taking me. His cock slips inside, my fingers do what I imagine he would and I pump hard and fast. This completely forbidden, unattainable man feels utterly incredible and the thrill of knowing it’s wrong makes it even better.

  “Oh fuck.” It gets too intense, I can hardly stand it. The pressure builds and grows, blooms and thrills me. The world twists and spins, burns and flickers, the flames slick all over my skin as the intense pleasure licks me. It squeezes and intensifies, it deepens and flutters. I’m steaming towards the end. “Oh, Cooper.”

  Finally, it bursts free from me. It explodes and rolls over me in waves. This is the most intense orgasm I have ever experienced in my entire life. It shudders and buckles through my body, seeming like it won’t ever come to an end. I don’t want it to stop. I want to live and swim in this delicious feeling forever.

  “Oh wow,” I chuckle as soon as it all subsides. “That was really something else.”

  I think about Flora’s words, the way she told me to have a fling. God, I wish I could have a fling with him. I only need to look at him to know that it would be amazing. He just has that look about him. He would be exactly the right person to get over Trent, not that I really need to get over him more than I already have, I’m already switched off to him, but I’m going to have to keep my hands off of Cooper.

  However much I want to touch him. Ooh, I want to touch him now. After that little fantasy, that’s all I want to do. To run my hands over his chest and feel his muscular body.

  Unfortunately, now all I can do is watch him, tortured, across the office, wishing I could have him. Then again, maybe that’s better. It’s safe. I can’t do anything about it. I can’t be with him so I can just consume myself in liking him. That’ll keep me away from other guys, which is exactly what I want.

  This is my time to just be me, to be single and be by myself.

  I sigh and turn onto my side, smiling and allowing my eyes to close. I really do need to get enough sleep tonight, tomorrow is a huge day and I need to focus. I want to be in top form to make sure Cooper doesn’t regret giving me a chance. He’s stuck his neck out on the line for me. I have to be right.

  5

  Cooper

  “Okay, so now that the IT guys have finally set you up on the computer system, I can show you my diary.”

  I know that Lexi said she wouldn’t need me to train her, that she’ll work it all out on her own, but I can’t seem to keep her away. No matter how much I try, I keep getting lured in by her beautiful smile. This black dress she has on in an attempt to look smart clings to her in all the right places. She looks damn good.

  “Thank you, Cooper. “I’m sorry, I will pick this up soon, I promise you.”

  “I know, I trust you. I’m not worried at all.” I offer her a reassuring smile. “And I can take five minutes out without a problem to run through all of this with you. I’d like to make sure that we’re on the same page anyway.”

  I lean across her to type something into her computer, accidently brushing against her as I go. The flurry of electricity that races through me is too much, I actually snatch my hand away quickly. From the way that Lexi’s eyes pop wide open, I can tell that she felt it too. Being in this together doesn’t make it any easier, if anything it’s torturous because it doesn’t change the fact that we can’t do anything about it.

  “Sorry, erm, so yeah… this is the login page, they gave you the information, right?”

  She types it all in at the speed of light, but I still notice the tremble in her fingers. I’m making her nervous. I’m making this sassy, spunky girl nervous and I only want to corrupt her further.

  “Right, great, and this is obviously the calendar. Whatever you type into here will come up on my PC too. Much as you’re in control of my diary, I need to see what I’m doing.”

  That smile connects us, as does this small link through the computer. We’re growing increasingly intertwined with one another which only amps up the danger. Not that I’m going to fall into that trouble.

  “Right, of course, so how do I know what you do and don’t want to do?”

  “What do you mean by that?” I screw up my eyebrows in confusion.

  “Well, if someone calls up and asks you to do a charity fun run, do I put it in or what?”

  I can’t stop myself from smirking. This is exactly the sort of question I’d expect from someone who hasn’t done this job before. But still, I don’t miss Bryan as much as I have done, funnily enough.

  “That’s something you’ll get used to over time, but for now, if someone wants me to do something and there’s a space in my diary, just pop there into my office and ask me.”

  “I don’t want to annoy you, popping in and out like that. I don’t want to be an annoyance.”

  “Oh, Lexi, the last thing I think you can be is an annoyance.”

  The air grows thick between us, there’s a definite lust clinging to the air. As our eyes lock in on one another I forget about everyone else in the office. Lexi has this way of doing that to me. The rest of the world doesn’t matter. It’s just her and me, me and her, and it’s so desperately hard not to lean in and kiss her.

  “Okay, well erm…” Her voice is raspy, but thankfully, it breaks the tension. “I’ll do that then.”

  “Yes.” I blink a couple of times, staring at the computer screen. “And your email, you know about that?”

  “I might not have worked in an office before but I can just about work out email.”

  “Right, of course. And all of Bryan’s files are here, so if you need to look anything up, this is where you’ll find it.” I scan my eyes around, trying to find something else to talk about. I’m not quite ready to leave Lexis side yet. “Do you have any questions for me? Anything about the job you want to know?”

  “Yeah, what do I do when you have a meeting? Just so I don’t embarrass you? Am I tea girl? Do I take notes? Do I not go in at all? I saw that you had a big conference room, so I just want to check.”

  “That will all depend on the meeting. Sometimes I might need you to come on photo shoots as well.”

  “Ooh.” Her eyes light up. “I like the sound of that. That’s really fun.”

  “Yeah, well we do have some fun here.” I lean on her desk and smile. “It’s a good time.”

  “I can see that. It seems like you have a really good thing going on here. All your staff seem to be happy.”

  “They work hard. Happiness equals productivity.”

  “Oh, of course. Well, I will be very productive, like I told you.”

  A strand of hair falls across her face, and it takes everything that I have not to reach out and brush it away. My fingers actually itch to do so, but I just about manage to keep my hands by my side.

  “Okay, well I’ll be in my office now.” I regretfully have to step away. There’s nothing to keep me here any longer and I can’t just loiter. “But I’m not too far away so come and ask me anything.”

  “I will.” I watch her chest rise and fall as she breathes deep. “Thank you again, Cooper.”

  It’s really hard to drag myself away, which just reminds me how careful I need to be around this woman. She’s dangerous, she’s tempting, she’s like a little ball of lust. It’s annoying because I haven’t felt this excited about a woman since I first met Nora. The deep thrill in the pit of my stomach is all-consuming.

  I sit back behind my desk, barely able to focus on anything aside from her. I can feel her presence even if I can’t see her. She’s a little firecracker and I like that about her. Far too much…

  * * *
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br />   I sigh loudly and rest my forehead on my desk, weariness overcoming me. It’s been a very long day, the lack of concentration has made everything last so much longer than it normally does, which means it’s a little late.

  “Are you okay?” I snap my head up as a timid voice interrupts my thoughts. “Sorry, you look…”

  “Oh, sorry, Lexi, I didn’t even realize that you were still here. Why didn’t you leave with everyone else?”

  “I’m your personal assistant. That means I don’t leave until you do.”

  “I don’t know about that,” I chuckle. “Bryan was always gone by five PM.”

  “I’m not Bryan though,” she reminds me. “You’re going to have to stop comparing me or I’ll end up with a complex. I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as a PA as him.”

  I laugh and drop my pen down, giving up on everything I’ve done. “Oh, I think you will.”

  “So, what is it you’re doing now? Maybe I can help.”

  “You don’t have to do this, this is my problem.”

  “But you have that gorgeous little girl to get home to. Don’t keep her waiting.”

  The fact that Lexi is reminding me about Aubrey is so sweet. She probably recalls me spilling my guts and telling her that I don’t quite know how to split my time between both of them.

  “So, if you let me help you, then you’ll be done doubly quick.”

  I glance down at what I’m doing, knowing that she can help. “Okay, I’m basically just organizing and signing off on some stuff. You can help me with the organizing part, unless you have somewhere you need to be?”

  “Nah, I can be here. Don’t you worry about that. Like I said, I’m throwing everything into it.”

  She takes the chair opposite me and I hand her the stack of papers to go through. It’s funny how much better I feel about everything with her there. She completely lifts the mood of the place and changes everything.