Page 8 of Secret Desire (Sapphic Billionaire Club #3)

Ashley

I ’d missed this. It was funny to say really. Maeve and I’d made out in the limo and then we’d had that one incredible night in her condo – was it only six days ago? – but I’d spent the entire week jonesing for another kiss like an addict looking for her next hit.

I didn’t understand this strong draw I felt for my boss.

At first I’d told myself it was just residual emotions from when I was younger and had a crush on her.

Then I tried to tell myself that it was the thrill of the forbidden.

Or maybe I was having some kind of midlife crisis.

Sure, I was only twenty-eight, but I’d always been an early bloomer.

After living my entire life without knowing what it felt like to have Maeve kiss me, suddenly I needed it like I needed oxygen. Except we kissed each other for so long I started to doubt I even needed that.

When we finally pulled apart, we were both gasping for breath.

“This is completely inappropriate,” Maeve said without conviction.

Oh God, she was back to this again. The back and forth between her words and actions was killing me.

I knew logically it was inappropriate, but it wasn’t unwanted.

Not like with that lech Johan. And she was one of the owners of a privately held company.

As long as I consented – which I did enthusiastically – there was nothing anyone could do about us being together.

Gossip was the worst thing that could happen. Maybe…

“It would be inappropriate if I didn’t want this,” I said. “Or if we weren’t single. But this is a really bad idea to do here. If we’re going to keep on doing this, we need to be discreet. Someone could catch us in here.”

As if I’d tempted fate with my words, suddenly the door to the supply room opened. Maeve leapt away from me, and I quickly grabbed something off the closest shelf to make it look like I’d been getting supplies. Which technically I had been, before Maeve distracted me with her mouth.

I couldn’t decide if I was relieved or disappointed that it was Theo standing in the doorway.

“There you are,” he said, his gaze bouncing between us. “Both of you.”

Maeve was busying herself rearranging some boxes of pens on a shelf, as if that was something the CEO of a multi-million dollar company did.

“Oh hey Theo,” she said with forced casualness. “How’s it going with Grace and Nicole?”

“I locked them in the conference room and told them to work their shit out,” he said. “I’ll go back and check on them in a bit. But what’s happening in here?”

“I needed some pens,” Maeve said, holding up a box of Bics.

“I was looking for a notebook,” I said honestly.

Theo looked at the box of staples in my hand, rolled his eyes, and reached across me to grab a notebook, waving it in front of me. “Here you go.”

“Thanks. See you all later.”

I scurried out of there like the coward I was, leaving Maeve to deal with the nosy matchmaker.

I only hoped Theo wouldn’t tell everyone that he found us in the supply closet looking guilty about something.

I wasn’t prepared to be the subject of office gossip again.

Not after what happened at my last job. It was a good reminder why this thing with Maeve was such a bad idea.

But it was too enticing to give up. We’d just need to be more careful.

By unspoken agreement, Maeve and I kept our distance as much as possible over the next two weeks.

We’d gone too far in the supply room, let ourselves get carried away by lust. It was dangerous and unprofessional, and things would have ended badly if anyone other than Theo had walked in on us. We both knew it.

Even though we were together every day, either at project meetings or working together on development work, we kept our distance.

When we were alone, we made sure the office door was open at all times.

But that didn’t keep us from exchanging the occasional heated look or brushing against each other lightly when we were in close proximity, teasing each other. Or torturing each other maybe.

Two weeks after our supply room tryst things came to a head.

AGM was having a big party to celebrate the opening of a new project they’d developed in Chinatown.

The neighborhood had been undergoing rapid gentrification over the last few years, including urban renewal in the business district.

AGM had built a smallish project at the very edge of the neighborhood which combined office space, a medical clinic, and upper level housing for seniors.

AGM didn’t do residential work as a rule, but with the city’s increasing emphasis on mixed use housing that combined retail or office space with workforce or affordable housing, it was becoming a more common part of our projects.

It was part of why I’d been brought on – besides me quitting my old job.

Right now Grace and I were pretty much the only people at the firm who had substantial residential development experience.

Although we had Nicole on contract now too.

She and Grace were officially back together after working out their issues when Theo locked them in the conference room.

She was attending the party at the new building as Grace’s date, and Sadie was coming with Ariel.

Neither Maeve nor I had a date for the event.

In another life, we could be each other’s date, but instead we both arrived separately.

I’d dressed up in a dark blue dress that had sparkly threads through it, which gave it kind of a shimmery look.

It was fitted at the waist, with a square neckline and a skirt that flared out above my knees.

I’d pulled my hair up into a sophisticated twist and put on what I thought of as my ‘nighttime event makeup’, including a smokey eye and bold red lipstick.

I saw Maeve as soon as I arrived. She was wearing a form-fitting jade green dress that hugged her curves and sky-high heel in the exact same color. Her hair was styled into soft waves, her makeup bold and dramatic. She looked fantastic.

As we mingled with guests and networked, I was aware of where she was in the room at all times.

Everyone here seemed to know her, which made sense.

She was the CEO of AGM as well as one of the richest women in the city.

Like my sister and Grace, everyone wanted a piece of her.

A kind word. An introduction. A chance to talk about their new investments.

Unlike Grace and Ariel though, she didn’t have someone on her arm as a buffer.

Across the room Maeve was talking to a very attractive woman in an impossibly tight dress.

Her breasts were too large to be real, pushed up like they were on a shelf and practically falling out of her dress.

She was standing way too close to my friend-with-benefits, her hand on Maeve’s arm as she laughed and tossed her hair, flirting with her. I ground my teeth in annoyance.

“You’ve got it bad, don’t you?” Theo whispered loudly in my ear.

I looked around before answering him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He laughed. “Sure you don’t. I guess I’m just imagining the way you’re looking at that woman touching Maeve like you want to skin her alive.”

“Why don’t you go over there and rescue her?” Theo suggested when I didn’t respond to his teasing.

Then the woman brushed her breast against Maeve’s arm, and I was across the room before I thought twice about it. Who knew I could move this fast in heels?

“Maeve,” I took her arm, pulling her away from Ms. Fake Tits. “Excuse me but I need to ask you about something.”

I narrowed my eyes at the handsy woman next to her. “I’m sure you’ll excuse us. Business, you know.”

The woman huffed and walked away, leaving me and Maeve alone. She gave me an amused look.

“What was that?”

“I was rescuing you,” I said. “I could tell you wanted to get away from her and her roving hands.”

“Could you?” she asked.

“Yes,” I snapped, irritated at the way she seemed to be amused by my actions. “Theo thought so too.”

“Ah. Well, thank you for the rescue then.”

She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. “You look sexy as fuck tonight.”

I looked around to make sure that we were alone.

“That dress looks incredible on you,” I said. “It would look even better bunched around your waist while I eat you out.”

Maeve’s eyes widened slightly.

“We had a close call last time,” she reminded me.

“I know.”

After so many days apart, I was having a hard time remembering why that mattered.

Maeve looked around, then whispered, “I’ve missed you.”

“We see each other every day,” I reminded her.

“Not the way I want to see you,” she said sadly.

“I don’t know what to do,” I confessed. “It feels super complicated to be together, but I can’t seem to stay away from you either.”

“I know, I feel the same.”

We were interrupted by Grace and Ariel coming over with their dates.

“I’m about ready to go home,” my sister said, squeezing Sadie’s shoulders. “It’s been a long week and my feet are killing me in these heels.”

“They’re super sexy though,” Sadie said softly, although we all heard it anyway.

“Yeah, we’re about to head out too,” Grace said. “The party’s wrapping up, so I called the limo to pick us up and take us back to AGM Tower.”

“How did you get here, Ash?” my sister asked.

“I took an Uber.”

Ariel frowned. “I don’t like you taking an Uber alone at this time of night.”

I resisted pointing out that I was a grown woman and that until a couple of months ago, she had absolutely no interest in my comings and goings.

“How about this?” Maeve said. “One of us needs to be here until the last guests leave so we can make sure everything gets cleared away and the building is locked up. Why don’t you guys go home and just send the limo back for us, then I’ll have them take Ashley home too.”

“I thought Theo was on close up duty.”

“Maeve agreed to help me, I have a terrible headache.” Theo’s voice came from nowhere. “I need to go too. I’d love to ride home in the limo with you ladies.”

“Do you mind staying to help, Ash?” Ariel asked.

“Not at all. I am the new girl after all, I have to pay my dues.”

“Okay, we’ll see you all later,” Ariel said.

She and Grace and Theo headed out with their significant others while Maeve and I worked with the caterers to subtly get rid of all the lingering guests.

Closing the bar helped move them along. By the time everything was cleaned up and the building was finally empty, the limo was idling in front of the building waiting for us.

“Where to, ma’am?” the driver asked Maeve as he opened the door for us.

We exchanged a heated look.

“My place,” I said, giving him the address. “She’s coming home with me.”